Fallen Empires
by KathDMD
Summary: On the night the lions go crazy, there are far-reaching consequences not only for the Lion Force, but the Vehicle Team and the Garrison as well.
1. Lights

_Author's Note__: This is a short story about the night the Lions went crazy on Wade's account, followed by its repercussions on the Voltron Force and on the rest of Galaxy Garrison. It goes along with my other stories, but if you haven't read them, don't worry about it - you'll catch on quick._

_I own nothing except my characters, and I do this for fun/stress relief purposes only, and not profit._

_**Part 1: "Lights" by Ellie Goulding**_

* * *

Earth. For all its flaws and faults, there really was nothing else like it. And if there was nothing like Earth, then there was _really _nothing like New York City.

That was what Hunk kept telling the princess, anyway.

"Oh man, this is gonna be so frickin' SWEET!" he roared, almost louder than his Yellow Lion. "Dude, do you guys realize we haven't been on Earth in, like, what? Four, five years? Maybe six? I can't keep track."

"Yeah, it _has _been a while, Hunk," Lance agreed. "So, are we going for pizza at some point?"

"Well, we _have _to," Allura shot out at her teammates, laughing. "Since you guys landed on my doorstep, all I've heard about is your infamous New York thin-crust pizza. If I _don't _get to try it while we're here, I'm going to be very upset with all of you."

Pidge cracked up. "I'm game. It's been awhile. And you know, as much as I love Nanny, her pizza's not the greatest."

"Blech!" Hunk agreed. "She's a good chef, yes, but she's definitely no pizza chef."

"I think you've gotta have Italian roots to be an amazing pizza chef," Lance added. "I mean, let's face it, nobody goes to Chinatown looking for pizza."

"Way to go, Lance. Only you could be both politically incorrect _and _ethnically insensitive at the same time," Keith chimed in. "I think that might be a record." But somewhere in the scolding, there was a teasing tone. Captain Kogane was finally at ease, knowing that the forces of Doom had finally been defeated. It was the biggest relief of his life. Now all they had to do was enjoy the celebration.

It had been a long, long time coming. Each member of the Voltron Force had sacrificed some part of himself and his life on Earth for Arus, some of them more than others. Keith lost Morgan, his Academy sweetheart, as well as - not that he necessarily would have done it - the chance to forge a relationship with his sister. Pidge had been separated from his twin brother, Chip. Lance had lost Cliff and Aidan, his partners in crime. Hunk lost Cinda, his female counterpart in engineering. They had all lost Sven, though at least he was physically healed now. Speaking of the Norwegian, Sven had lost his Academy sweetheart as well as nearly losing his life.

Not that Allura hadn't lost almost everything when Zarkon attacked. She'd lost her entire family and control of her planet for a long time.

Again, this celebration was well-earned, and it had definitely been a long time coming. They deserved a little happiness after all of their sacrifice. And a little pizza wouldn't hurt, either.

* * *

Morgan Rackens absent-mindedly rubbed her engagement ring and wedding band with her thumb. Since her engagement and marriage to David, she felt like she had been living in a dream - her own personal bubble of happiness. This was the first blip in her blissful state.

"Morgan, are you _sure _you can handle this?"

"I've got no other choice, Len," she replied, turning around to face her oldest friend. "I mean, it's not every day that the Voltron Force defeats the forces of Doom and the Garrison throws a celebration in their honor." She paused, gazing at her friend in uniform. "Oops. Sorry, I didn't mean _Len_, I meant _Space Marshal Stensson_."

"Shh! It's not official yet." Lenora Stensson put a black-lacquered finger to her lips. "I mean, it _is_, but I have to make it through the transitional period first. And I don't know how I feel about this Colonel Wade character. He's a little iffy. And he treats me like his personal tech sargeant."

"Dude, I don't think _iffy _is a strong enough word," Aidan Dalloway chimed in, wrapping his arm around his girlfriend's waist. He had been dating Lenora for almost ten months, since the night her mother died. It was sad that it had taken that cataclysmic event - along with five years of her life - for her to move past her old fiancé, Sven Holgersson, but he was grateful. He would have accepted anything if it meant that he had the girl of his dreams in his arms. "The guy is a one-man freak show. I'm sorry that Graham picked _him _of all people to oversee your transitional period."

"Glad to know you're on my side, Ace." Wade freaked her out, much more than she cared to admit. The way he looked at her with such disdain unnerved her. It was as though he despised her. He probably did. "I'd hate to have to go up against him alone."

"You're totally not alone." Morgan squeezed Lenora's free hand. "We've all got your back. The two of us, David, Kelly, and the five idiots on the Explorer. Oh, and Christiane."

Lenora nodded. "Speaking of Christiane, do you know if _she's _okay with this?"

Morgan shrugged. "Dunno. Honestly, I don't think Keith will want to see either of us." She bit her lower lip, looking pained at the thought of her ex-boyfriend arriving at the Garrison as the lead champion of Arus. "Though he _should _see Christiane, whether he likes it or not. She _is _his sister, after all."

Lenora agreed with her best friend's sentiment, but she didn't have the heart to tell her that Keith Kogane would probably do no such thing.

* * *

When Sven awoke in the morning, the first thing he noticed was the insistent throbbing in his head, followed by the soreness in his entire body. He felt like he'd been in a head-on collision. Well, in a way, he had. His fall from the top of Doom Tower into the moat below - that would have been tough enough for anyone to handle, let alone someone who had survived a savage robeast attack. But he'd made it. He'd hit the moat head-first, arms outstretched in front of him, fingers pointed to smoothly break through the dirty water.

He'd always felt a connection to the water. Blue Lion would know that.

Despite his free-fall into the moat, he knew that wasn't the real reason his body was hurting. It was the celebration from the night before. On Pollux, they were lauded as heroes. Prince Bandor had proclaimed Sven Holgersson and Princess Romelle as the champions of the people. The champions of Pollux. Libations were generously poured and refilled; Sven couldn't remember the last time they'd been so happy. Or so _drunk_. But he did remember that with every drink that found its way down his throat, he felt more and more entitled to place his arm around Romelle's shoulder, and then her waist, and then his lips were on hers, and then they were in an empty bedroom, and suddenly that little blue dress she was wearing was on the floor...

It had been too long since he'd had a woman. He couldn't stop himself.

He sat up in bed. _Helvete_, he thought to himself. _I shouldn't have done that. I was drunk and I took advantage of the princess. Bandor's probably going to behead me when he finds out. So much for the champion of Pollux._

Sven felt guilty for a myriad of reasons, and he needed to get out of there. Fast. His clothes were on the floor, and he began to dress himself. He didn't realize he still had company.

"Where are you going, hmm?"

_Helvete_, he thought again. _Romelle and I spent the night together. This can't lead to anything good._

"Out," he answered carefully.

She sat up in bed as well, the sheets wrapped around her torso. The sunlight glinted off her golden hair, and the smile on her face was radiant. "Sven Holgersson, you'd better not think you're running away from me," she teased, blowing him a kiss. "Not after everything we've been through. And certainly not after last night."

_Blast it. I really did sleep with her._

"Of course not," he replied nervously, running his fingers through his dark hair. "I just need some time to myself to absorb everything." Then, before she could respond, he dashed out the door. Not the proudest moment in his twenty-seven years, but one of the most necessary. He really did need time to process everything. By himself.

Slipping out onto the balcony of Castle Pollux, Sven squinted in the sunlight. It was truly a perfect day, as though the gods above knew what had transpired on Doom only days before. They'd had their final victory as a team, and yet, in terms of a personal victory, he was as far away as he could get.

Stopping for a moment to lean against the railing, Sven reached underneath the collar of his shirt and pulled up a silver chain. A delicate platinum Tiffany wedding band hung from it. As he held the ring between his thumb and index finger, he felt an overwhelming sense of dread as he realized that he'd slept with Romelle the night before while wearing his _elskede's _ring around his neck.

It was time. It was time for him to go back to Earth to find his fiancée.

Throughout Sven's difficult time as a member of the Voltron Force - originally being captured by Doom, being horrifically maimed by Haggar's robeast, attempting to heal the damage on Ebb, being re-captured by Doom and made into a slave - the only thing that ever kept him going was his _elskede. _The thought that they would be reunited and married afterwards was almost too much to hope for, but it was the ideal that he worked towards. Now it was time for him to return to the Garrison and claim Lenora Stensson as his wife.

He just didn't think that Romelle would like it very much.

* * *

Sparks read and re-read the incoming transmission from Galaxy Garrison several times, but he still couldn't believe it. After rubbing his eyes, he finally called out, "Commander? I think you should see this."

"Oh?" Commander Jonathan James Hawkins rose from his seat on the bridge of the Stellar Ship Explorer and moved towards the tech sargeant's post. "Is it good news or bad news?"

"It's good. It seems that the Voltron Lion Force on Arus has defeated the forces of Doom. They're taking the lion ships to New York for a celebration." Then, shooting a sneaky smile towards the commander, he continued, "It will be the first Garrison celebration commandeered by the new Space Marshal. She has requested our presence for it. I suppose we should make an appearance."

"You're right. We shouldn't miss it." Hawkins nodded in agreement, lifting an eyebrow in interest as he did. "So then, our lieutenant has officially risen in the ranks to Space Marshal?" he inquired. "If so, I should send her a message." Noting the suspicious look on his tech sargeant's face, he added quickly, "On behalf of all of us, of course."

"Of course, Commander." _Nice cover._

Sparks - along with the rest of the Explorer bridge crew and the Voltron Force - knew that the commander had never gotten over the new Space Marshal's visit two years ago. At the time, she was only a lieutenant, and the tech sargeant vividly remembered the shameless flirtation on the commander's behalf. Though Hawkins had not mentioned her in conversation in two years, Sparks knew that they still kept in contact with each other. He'd received plenty of letters from her since her visit, making him just as excited for mail call as any other member of the Explorer.

Gazing down at his tech sargeant, Hawkins looked distracted. "Thank you for the update, Sparks. We'll set course back to Earth for the celebration. Now, if you'll excuse me, I will be in my chambers."

Sparks tried not to smirk as the commander left the bridge.

* * *

Christiane felt anxious when she returned to her studio apartment in the Valley.

The "Valley" - the Garrison's nickname for the cheap just-off-campus housing for the Space Academy's graduated students - felt more like home than anywhere else Christiane Kogane had ever lived. At the age of twenty-three, she'd spent the past fifteen years of her life without a real family. Foster families didn't count; because of the incident she wouldn't speak of again, which resulted in her older foster brother being incarcerated, she'd legally emancipated herself at sixteen. The Space Academy became a stable place, a place she thought of as home, even when her biological brother rejected her.

_Keith is gonna be here soon, though._

After graduation, with the brand-new title of Technical Sargeant, Christiane was hired by the Garrison as one of their many systems analysts. It was convenient, pleasant - she had regular opportunities to contact her brother's friend, Jeff Aki, and hang out with other tech sargeants - _and _it paid the rent as an added bonus. She couldn't ask for much more than that. Her life was good.

The only thing she possibly could ask for now would be a relationship with her brother. She had never really entertained the idea - after all, he'd turned his back on her when she was sixteen and he was twenty, and that had pretty much said it all. But now it looked like there might be an opportunity for that to happen. If it happened, she knew she would more than gladly reach out to him. _He _was the wild card. Would he rise to the occasion, or would he ignore her as he had before?

Moving towards her freezer, she pulled out her small bottle of Ciroc vodka and poured herself a shot. No sense in worrying about it now. She'd worry about it when she saw him in person.

* * *

When Colonel Wade paged Lenora to his office - really, it was _her _office, but the man had taken it over and seemed far too comfortable in it - Morgan and Aidan left the Alliance headquarters. Morgan returned to her house, the newly-renovated Victorian she and David owned, located right on the outskirts of the city. Aidan returned downtown to his one-bedroom apartment, leaving a message on his girlfriend's phone for her to come by when she was finished with Wade.

Once he was in his apartment, Aidan changed out of his uniform and into street clothes, a pair of broken-in jeans and a white T-shirt. He'd been trying to convince Lenora to move in with him, but she refused, at best staying overnight only on the weekends. That left five days during the week when she stayed at her studio apartment in the Valley. Five nights when she was probably still dreaming about Sven and wishing he'd come home. Aidan had no doubt that if Sven returned tomorrow, Lenora would leave him for the dark Norwegian without a second thought.

That was why he'd taken advantage of Morgan's and David's nuptials. With the Explorer docked - heck, nearly half of the Vehicle Team was in the bridal party, and Jeff had walked the bride down the aisle - Aidan had grabbed his best Mate, Cliff, the day after the wedding and dragged him through the city's Diamond District. Using the Australian as his bodyguard, he bit the bullet and purchased an engagement ring for Lenora. Yes, at the time it was too early to even think about marriage, but he wanted to have the ring on hand. He wanted to be able to lock his girlfriend down before Sven decided to come back. Or come back from the dead. The Garrison still didn't have confirmation on whether or not he was even alive.

Moving to the back of his closet, Aidan opened up the safe and pulled out the box with her ring in it. He'd picked out a classic round diamond, three-quarters of a carat, set in a white-gold band with diamond chips trailing down the sides. He had the ring, now all he had to do was wait for the perfect moment to propose.

In a few months, she would officially be Space Marshal, and Wade would officially be out of the picture. That would be the best time to propose. He felt he should probably do it sooner - tonight, even - but he didn't want to present her with some half-baked marriage proposal. He knew she was always going to be sad about Sven, so he needed to do something big and exciting when he asked her to be his wife. He wanted to do something so grand and romantic that she would forget about the Norwegian entirely.

Putting the ring away, he turned on the viewing screen and waited for his girlfriend to come home.

* * *

In the privacy of his chambers, Jon Hawkins poured himself a generous serving of Courvoisier, then moved to the bedroom to retrieve the stack of letters he kept by the bed. _Her _side of the bed. She had only spent the night once, and she'd spent it fully clothed, but he still considered it to be her side of the bed.

How sad that _that _was the only night he'd ever had a woman in his bed on the Explorer.

Sitting down at his desk, he took a sip of the cognac and began to sort through her letters. Jon had kept in touch with Lenora since her visit, mailing each other back and forth over the course of two years. They could have e-mailed each other, but there was something special about holding a hard copy of her letter, examining her writing and occasionally catching a whiff of her perfume on it. Yes, there was definitely something to be said about a real letter.

With a deep breath and another sip, he re-read the latest letter she'd written to him. He'd read it over and over, a thousand times it seemed, hoping for something different each time. He skimmed down to the part where she told him that she had a boyfriend. _I've been seeing an old classmate of mine, Aidan Dalloway, _she wrote, effectively crushing him in the process. _I don't know how serious we are, but I'm enjoying myself. Of course, Sir, he doesn't know anything about fine wine the way __you__ would._

There was that teasing again! Why did that woman torment him? Jon knew without a doubt that the new Space Marshal belonged by his side. He hadn't been in any semblance of a relationship since he graduated from the Space Academy sixteen years earlier, and he knew that his nights spent with a woman had been very few and even further between since then. Despite that, he knew in his being that he and Lenora were right for each other. If she wasn't sure how serious she was with this new boyfriend of hers, well, it really sounded like she'd be more than happy to leave him if something better came along. And Jon was sure that _he _was something better.

As he paused to take another sip of cognac, he realized his glass was empty. Blast it. He moved back to the liquor cabinet for a refill. As he did, his eyes scanned over the bottle of red wine he kept in there. Hess' Allomi Vineyard cabernet sauvignon. It was her favorite. Jon had stocked his liquor cabinet with a bottle of her favorite wine, just in case she ever came to visit again.

Cognac in hand, he moved back to his desk. All he could think about was going back to the Garrison for the celebration. Of course, he was pleased for Arus and for the Voltron Lion Force. He was pleased that the forces of Doom had been defeated. But mostly, he was pleased that he would get to see Lenora again, and perhaps convince her to leave this..._boyfriend_...of hers.

* * *

Landing the lions on Garrison Island was the easy part. Getting off the island was quite another matter. Once they met with the new Space Marshal, they would have to travel on foot to get pizza. That would prove to be interesting.

"I can't believe Graham finally retired," Lance commented smugly, rolling the name of his old nemesis over his tongue. "I never thought I'd live to see the day when the man hung his hat up."

"That's 'cuz you finally did him in, Lance," Hunk teased. "I mean, that poor guy did nothing but yell _'Cadet McClain! My office, now!' _for five years. I think you finally wore him out."

Pidge laughed. "Yeah. But don't forget, he said that only slightly more often than _'Cadet Dalloway!' _or _'Cadet Jack!'_ Let's not forget, Aidan and Cliff were in trouble almost as much as Lance was." Grinning over at the Red Lion pilot, he smirked, "Man, those two gave you a real run for your money."

"Eh." Lance shrugged modestly. "They were the best partners in crime a guy could ask for. But let's not forget, when it came to buzzing Senator Kalczek's eighteenth-floor penthouse, that was all me, kids."

"Yeah." Keith's voice broke into the conversation, almost reverently. "I wonder if Graham ever got that F-11 Jetstar back after the senator had it impounded. Then again, it was a small price to pay, seeing as how it was either the jet got impounded or Lance went to jail."

"I'm sure Graham would have rather seen Lance go to jail," Hunk quipped. "The Garrison sure spent a pretty penny on those F-11s back in the day."

"Yeah, and every one of those pretty pennies was well worth it," Lance remarked. "Those F-11s were frickin' _spectacular_."

"Lance! How much trouble did you actually get into during your five years at the Space Academy?" Allura asked, exasperated. "Are you telling me that Galaxy Garrison sent their biggest troublemaker to Arus in the hopes of getting rid of him?"

Everyone burst out laughing. _"Maybe," _Lance cracked. "What, did you expect anything less?"

The princess could only laugh and shake her head as they landed the lions on the island. Admittedly, she was excited about this visit, and not just because they had defeated Planet Doom. She knew how excited her teammates were to revisit their old home and see their old friends. Maybe, if she was lucky, she could learn even more about their pasts - especially Keith's - from it.

* * *

Lenora stared at Wade incredulously as he commanded her to leave the island for the rest of the day. He spelled it out, in no uncertain terms, that he was to be the one to greet the Voltron Force's lions as they came in from Arus.

"Pardon me, Colonel," she told him with an icy note in her voice, "but I do believe that, as Space Marshal of the Galaxy Garrison and the head of the Galaxy Alliance, I have the right to greet the Voltron Lion Force." _Besides, you pompous jerk, they're __my__ friends, not yours._

It was obvious that she would need to spell out everything to this bitter man.

Wade wanted her job, and he would do just about anything to get it. By now, she was used to him bullying her around and treating her like his personal systems analyst. She understood that it ticked him off that Graham had chosen her at such a young age to assume the mantle of Space Marshal, but he would have to accept that fact sooner rather than later. Graham had selected _her_ for the job, not him. He was merely there to oversee her transitional period.

The colonel looked back at her, unmoved. His lips quivered with anger as he addressed her. "I understand that you are the Space Marshal, Lenora, but you are on probation right now. I am the interim marshal, and therefore _I _will handle all of the matters concerning the Voltron Force. You are dismissed."

She was enraged, but she refused to argue with him and lower herself down to his level. Inclining her head, she narrowed her eyes and spat out, "As soon as my transitional period is over, Colonel, _you _will be dismissed as well. Believe me when I say I will see to that personally." Then she left the office without so much as a glance backward.

* * *

Daniel was only twelve years old, but his entire life revolved around Voltron. He didn't care _what _part of Voltron was being discussed, even though he tended to favor Black Lion - he was willing to participate in any discussion that involved Voltron, even if only indirectly, like the Space Academy, the Galaxy Alliance, or the Garrison itself.

Which was why his father was so willing to take him to the parade and ceremony honoring the Voltron Lion Force.

"Can you believe it?" he'd asked his son, almost as excited as the boy was. "Can you believe that the Voltron Lion Force defeated both King Zarkon _and _Prince Lotor? What a mighty robot, indeed!"

Not that Daniel was surprised. He had more faith in Voltron than anything else, and he believed in the robot more than anyone he knew. Even though he was partial towards Lion Voltron, he liked Vehicle Voltron as well, and he devoured stories about Albegas, the supposed Voltron prototype. "Nope. _I'm _not surprised. I told you again and again, Voltron is the most powerful robot ever! The only thing that shocks me is that it took him this long to defeat Planet Doom!"

The boy's father ran his fingers through his coal-black hair, shot with threads of aubergine. "Yes, you always had faith," he replied pleasantly. "And look where your faith got you: we're going to the parade!"

"I can't wait! Do you think I'll get to meet them? I really want to meet Keith!" The boy's violet eyes widened with excitement. "He's my hero!"

His father chuckled. "Well, my boy, we'll do everything in our power to see that you meet the great Captain Kogane. How's that sound?"

"AWESOME!"

The boy's enthusiasm made his father laugh again. "Good. I'm glad you're so excited. But you know it's time for bed now. Come on, let's get you upstairs, washed up, and into your pajamas so you can go to sleep."

Daniel brushed his teeth, using floss and rinsing with mouthwash, before changing into his Voltron-themed pajamas. As he climbed into bed, he closed his eyes and pretended to sleep as his father planted a good-night kiss on his forehead. But the boy knew there was no way he could fall asleep now. He was too excited for the celebration.

He was going to meet his heroes.


	2. In the Dark

_Author's Note__: I am so pleased that everyone's had such a positive response to this short story. It's because of the fact that I have the best readers __ever__ that I continue to write. Thank you!_

_To Lillehafrue - As we all know, this is going nowhere good. But I'm gonna make it as delicious as possible!_

_To Sally On - Look forward to backstories on Jeff and Aidan in particular, as well as a little more on Christiane and the Modoch/Kelly relationship._

_To Emie Mac - This is a five-parter, so yeah, Wade's gonna make his move pretty fast. And no, VV and LV don't meet now, but that doesn't mean the Explorer won't touch down in NYC. (And oh, the Jon/Len relationship...I love those two together, as you can tell!)_

_To bknbu - And I am gonna work my magic with these crazy characters!_

_To Wade Wells - I felt that the NickToons series really left a lot lacking. I mean, what Wade did to cause the lions to go crazy was a huge deal, and it was treated almost as an afterthought. This is my attempt at filling in some of the gaps while simultaneously weaving my characters in. As I am oh-so-good at, of course. Ha. :P_

_**Part 2: "In the Dark" by Dev**_

* * *

It was late. Beyond that, it seemed a little surreal to Pidge that they were all sitting in a chintzy pizza parlor, eating to-go slices in little wedge-shaped cardboard containers with the princess in tow. He remembered their Academy days, and how it wasn't so unusual to see girls like Morgan, Ginger, Lisa, Cinda, Kelly and Lenora with them. But Allura was Arusian royalty; she was so much more refined than their old classmates were. She shouldn't have been eating cheap pizza out of a red, white, and green striped cardboard box.

Yet there she was, despite seeming skeptical.

"Hmm, I'm not sure if I can do this," she commented with a disturbed look on her face, peeling the pieces of mystery meat - pepperoni, really - off her slice and placing them on Hunk's cardboard container. Hunk had ordered three slices of the "Everything" pizza, laden with pepperoni, sausage, chicken, ham, onions, green peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, marinara, and four different types of cheese. He'd even added hot pepper and garlic powder to it at the garnish station. Pidge had teased him, calling it a heart attack in a box. "Watching the way Hunk's shoveling this in, I don't know if I can do this."

"Eh, we learned the hard way that it's better to just ignore Hunk when you eat," Lance instructed as he devoured his own slice of pepperoni pizza. "This is some of the best cheap pizza in the city. Trust me on this one. Cliff, Aidan and I went on a thorough tour of cheap pizza when we were students. Hunk and Rocky helped."

"I agree wholeheartedly," Hunk added, shovelling nearly half of a huge slice into his mouth. "Yeah, you can probably find better pizza, but it'll cost you."

"Nice, Big Guy." Pidge punched the engineer in the upper arm. "Leave it to you to pick out a pizza joint based on a price-to-flavor ratio."

"Hey, Shorty, that's my main M.O. in life."

Keith took a bite of his sausage-and-mushroom pizza. The last time he'd been in this pizza joint, he was with Morgan. It was right before Graham had informed the five of them that they were being sent to Arus, and they had just gotten back together after another stupid break-up. He wondered if he would run into her while they were at the Garrison. He wasn't sure if he wanted to. Then again, it might be nice to see if she had improved her life and was happy without him. It would hurt, but he would feel better knowing that she had moved on and was happy.

Then there was Christiane.

He was curious to know if his sister was still hanging around campus. What was she like? What had she chosen to do with her life? Was she serious the way he was, or was she more carefree like Lance or Hunk? Was she a brainiac like Pidge? Did she live nearby? Would she be coming to the celebration for the Voltron Force, and if she was, did she know that her brother was the captain? Would she be looking for him? Would he be able to speak with her if he saw her there?

Had Jeff been looking out for her?

Chewing on his slice, he thought that, yes, he _would _make the effort. If he saw Christiane at the celebration, he would make it a point to speak with her privately. The last time he saw her, he had treated her horribly. He hadn't been ready to let her into his life. Maybe now he could start the process.

"So how's your pizza, Chief?" Allura asked him, interrupting his thought process.

Coming back into the present, Keith looked over at the princess. "It's good," he replied, holding his happiness in check in typical fashion. "I'm sorry you're not enjoying it as much as we are, though."

With joyful eyes, she reached underneath the table and squeezed his knee. He shot a smile back at her, and decided that he'd waited long enough. Tomorrow night, after the ceremony, he'd make his move. He'd finally tell Allura how he felt about her. Hopefully, she reciprocated his feelings. But even if she didn't, it would be nice to lay all his cards out on the table. That way, he would know for sure one way or another, and he would know how to proceed from there.

Even her rejecting his proposal of romance would be better than sitting in a perpetual purgatory of not knowing.

His eyes turned back to his teammates, and he reaffirmed to himself that, yes, tomorrow night would be the night. After the ceremony, he would definitely tell Allura that he had fallen for her. It would be the perfect opportunity for him to confess his feelings.

* * *

"Sven, could you at least do me the courtesy of telling me _why _you're leaving?"

The Norwegian stopped short. He had been expecting Romelle to try to sway him from leaving Pollux. He hadn't expected that it would be _Bandor _who'd try to stop him in his tracks on the way to the hangar.

The young prince was no longer a chubby, freckled-faced boy of fifteen. Now, at the age of twenty-one, he was a man. Not only was he taller, but his shoulders had broadened, his jawline had hardened, and the last of the baby fat had fallen off. In addition, his red curls had grown longer, nearly touching his shoulders in a mullet-like fashion that Keith would have endorsed. Though Sven had never seen Avok with his own eyes, he imagined that this was how the slain prince might have appeared.

He exhaled slowly. "I'm going to Earth," he offered. He didn't want to tell him _why_; the prince hardly would have appreciated the fact that Sven was going back to the Garrison to find his old fiancée, especially since he knew how strongly his sister felt about the former Blue Lion pilot.

Bandor nodded. "Off to join the rest of the Voltron Force, huh?"

Sven merely blinked.

"Didn't you get Allura's message at our Castle Control this morning? The one about how she and the rest of the team already left for Earth because the Garrison wanted to hold a victory celebration?"

The navigator thanked every star overhead. "Exactly," he lied. "I thought it would be nice to help them celebrate, and maybe see some of my old classmates, too." _That _part was definitely not a lie; all he wanted to do was find Lenora. He wanted to take her ring off the chain around his neck and slide it back onto her finger where it belonged. Then they would get married as quickly as possible - Vegas, Dradin, it didn't matter. Yes, he knew it had been six years since they'd last seen or spoken to each other, but he didn't want to waste any more time. He'd waited long enough, and he had a sneaking suspicion that she would feel the same way.

Bandor nodded in understanding. "I think Romelle might want to go with you," he offered.

No. No, no, _no_. That was definitely _not _part of the plan. Romelle would be extremely unhappy if she went to the Garrison with him, thinking that the trip might cement their relationship status, only to watch him reunite with his fiancée. That would be disastrous.

"Oh, Bandor, I couldn't do that to her. She would only be bored."

The young prince shrugged. "Well, I'm pretty sure she wants to be there. I mean, it _is _our cousin and her teammates being honored. And Romelle was a main part of the ground force on Doom."

He had a point, but Sven was not about to be swayed so easily. The Norwegian had waited a long time for this moment, and he was not about to let anyone or anything ruin it for him. "I think she still doesn't feel well from last night, Bandor. Too much to drink. She's not used to it." He shrugged convincingly enough.

"Ah." Bandor shot him a conspiratorial wink. "Now I get it. You sly dog, Sven." He clapped the Norwegian on the shoulder. Leaning in, he whispered, "Promise me you'll treat my sister well. Okay?"

Sven exhaled. The guilt he'd been harboring from the moment he woke up was only intensifying. He liked Bandor, and he did love Romelle, in a way. But Romelle was not his _elskede_, and she was not the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. "I will do the best I can, Bandor."

At least that part wasn't a lie. He _would _do the best he could for Romelle. Unfortunately, he knew his best wasn't what the princess wanted.

* * *

Jeff didn't know much, but as he stared out the Explorer's window into space, he knew that they were headed back to Earth. Not that he minded. It would be good to see Morgan and Christiane again.

Since the collapse of the old and the rebuilding of the new Planet Drule, their exploration team had returned to its original mission: completing a star map of the galaxy for the Alliance while searching for new, livable worlds. The Air Team captain, even as hot-headed as he was, much preferred this mission over fighting the Drules. As long as no other planets decided to get arrogant and pull stunts the way Viceroy Throk and Emperor Zeppo had, they wouldn't have to do too much fighting.

"There you are."

He turned his head to find Lisa gazing at him with those big, dark eyes. He and Lisa had been dating for ages - too long, it seemed sometimes - but she always seemed distrustful of his friendship with Christiane. She had never once questioned his friendship with Morgan. She knew Morgan, she knew his history with Morgan. Christiane was like a shadow. A mystery. Lisa knew nothing about the girl, other than the fact she was Keith's estranged younger sister, but she always seemed to know when he was thinking about her.

"Hey, Lis," he offered, holding his arm out for her. "What's going through that pretty head of yours?"

She shook her head, choosing to deflect the conversation and wrap her arms around his shoulders instead. "Nothing important," she murmured, which made Jeff even surer that it was her doubts about Christiane lurking around. "I just can't believe we're going back to Earth for this celebration. It doesn't seem like something Commander Hawkins would agree to."

Jeff smirked. "Yeah, but you forgot one important thing, Lis: Space Marshal _Stensson _requested our presence. And if you remember correctly, the commander isn't about to turn down a request from _her_."

He watched the corner of Lisa's mouth turn up. "True enough," she admitted. "He's had a crush on her since the moment he met her. Of course he'd want to see her again."

"That's what a woman will do to a guy, I suppose."

"Yeah," Lisa sighed in agreement. "It reminds me of how much you want to see Morgan again..._and _Christiane, too."

He sighed. "Come on, Lis. You know that Keith asked me to watch out for her when he left for Arus. Stop worrying about it. You're making _way _too big a deal out of our friendship."

She nodded. "If you say so." But for some reason, she wasn't entirely convinced.

* * *

Kelly Asimov was busy cleaning her apartment.

Well, technically, it wasn't _her _apartment. She and Modoch had been together for so long that it just seemed like the logical progression for her to move in with him. She had been the one to move in with him - he was the one with the decent one-bedroom apartment. She'd had a studio in the Valley.

It was hard having a serious boyfriend on the Explorer. With the Vehicle Team in space for such long periods of time, it was lonely. Worrisome, too; before Zeppo and Throk surrendered, she constantly worried about the safety of her loved ones. And not just Modoch, her old floormates from the Space Academy who she considered her family. Lisa. Ginger. Cliff. Jeff. And especially Cinda.

_Soon, _she thought. Soon, they'd all be back on Earth. There would be two Voltrons at the Garrison, and the other half of her family - Keith, Lance, Pidge, and Hunk - would be there as well. Sven would be the only one missing.

That part was too bad.

Humming to herself, Kelly twisted her curly ash-blond hair up into a haphazard bun and got to work. She didn't really need to clean the apartment, but she had to do _something _to keep her mind preoccupied. Otherwise, she would sit and count the moments until the celebration and the Explorer landed.

* * *

With Hawkins in his private chambers, Captain Richard Newley took full command of the bridge on the Explorer. When he was sure that no one from the bridge crew was paying attention, he laughed to himself. This situation was hilarious. He could not believe that Jon, one of his oldest and best friends, had ordered the temporary abandonment of their mission to go back to Earth for a celebration at the Garrison. Or, more to the point, that he had done so on account of a _girl_.

Rich and Jon had done their fair share of carousing and picking up women over the past sixteen years. It was like a game of Russian roulette - Rich was pale-haired and blue-eyed while Jon was quintessentially dark and handsome - so they never knew which one of them would be preferred by the ladies whenever they went out. But their relationships with any given woman were limited to one night, three at the most. So it was bordering on unbelievable that Jon still cared so much after two years about this one girl, Space Marshal or not, that he was willing to head back to Earth for her.

As he mulled over the absurdity of the situation, he heard Sparks draw in a gasp.

"Tech Sargeant! What's wrong?" he asked quickly, tamping down the concern in his voice. He didn't want to worry his crew unless he had to.

Sparks brought an image up on the main screen. "It's a magnetic storm, Captain," he answered, trying to run an analysis on it. "I'm afraid we'll have to wait it out. According to my calculations, the range of this storm is enormous."

"We can't go around it?"

"No. The scope is too large, and even if we try, the gravitational pull is so great that the storm will pull us in and crush us." The look on the tech sargeant's face was grim. "We'll have to stay put for now. We can't risk moving through."

Rich stood up from his seat. Regardless of how much he wanted to make fun of Jon and his ridiculous situation, he felt bad about the delay. "How long do you think we'll be stuck here, Sparks?"

"Well, Sir, a storm of this magnitude usually takes between thirty-six and forty-eight hours to clear up."

The captain's lips tightened into a straight line as the reality sunk in. The delay would cause them to miss the celebration at the Garrison. They would never make it there in time. Of course, that didn't mean that they still couldn't go, but it would mean that the other Voltron Force would be long gone by the time the Explorer docked in New York.

Sighing, he knew he had to break the news to everyone onboard. He decided to start with the commander - after all, he was the one who'd made the decision to head back to Earth. He just hoped that Jon would take the news well.

* * *

Ginger was extraordinarily bummed about the announcement. Granted, she knew that most of her teammates felt the same way. Modoch was desperate to see his girlfriend Kelly again, and she knew that the rest of her family was eager to see their old floormates who'd been sent to Arus. Chip in particular was saddened about not seeing his twin, which made her feel even sillier in comparison. She figured that, in lieu of complaining, it would be better to drown her sorrows in some of Sammy's contraband gin.

Which was how Cliff found her, slightly tipsy on Tanqueray, eyes red from holding in tears.

_Smashing_, he thought grimly as he sat down next to her. He'd always been fond of Ginger in a completely platonic way. While at the Academy, Cliff had never had eyes for any of his six female floormates. _Why squat where you eat? _he'd reasoned. But that didn't mean that he didn't care about them, and it hurt him to know that one of his family members was suffering. "Oh, Ginger. Come here."

One tear fell from her eye as she let herself be enveloped by Cliff's brotherly embrace. He could smell the gin seeping out of her pores. "What's the matter, Gin? Which is what you smell like, by the way."

"Sammy only had Tanqueray. No Bombay Sapphire." She laid her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. "I can't believe we're not gonna make it back to the celebration on time. We're completely gonna miss the other Voltron Force."

Cliff sighed. "You mean, we're going to miss Lance McClain."

"Exactly." She sniffed.

He smiled. "You're hilarious, you know that, Lemon Drop? I can't believe that you're still thinking about Lance McClain after all this time. I mean, do you really believe he's even thinking about you?"

"Shut up." She pulled back from his arms and shot him a poisonous look. "You weren't there, Clifford Jack. You wouldn't know."

He raised an eyebrow. "On the contrary, I _was _there."

"Not like that." She shook her head. "You don't know what it was like between Lance and me for five years."

Cliff's mouth dropped open slightly. "Five years? What do you mean, five _years_?"

"Of course you wouldn't know," she scoffed, turning to walk away from him. "Let's just say that Sven and Len, Keith and Morgan - they weren't the only ones with five-year relationships. Lance and I were pretty much together the entire time we were at the Academy. We just didn't say anything."

He didn't try to stop her as she walked away, but he was sure his lower jaw was hovering just over the floor. As she turned the hallway and disappeared out of his vision, he felt bad for her. _Sven and Len. Keith and Morgan. And now Lance and Ginger. _He shrugged to himself.

_I hate to remind her how well that five-year thing worked out for those other two couples._

* * *

"I can't go back there."

Aidan stared at his girlfriend in disbelief. Had Lenora Stensson actually said she wasn't going back to the Garrison for the celebration? Didn't she _have _to be there? "Um, Babe? You do realize that you're the Space Marshal, right? And that you're _supposed _to be there?"

From the edge of his bed, she scowled. "No kidding, Ace," she snapped. "Don't you think I _want _to be there? Don't you think I _want _to see my Bro and Tsuyo and Pidge and Keith again? And how about the crew on the Explorer? Jeff, your Mate, the girls, Commander Hawkins..."

Where in seven hells had _that _come from? How had she lumped the commander in with the people she thought of as her family? She must have missed him more than she realized.

He stood in silence for a moment, merely contemplating what he could do or say to make her feel better. He was the boyfriend, after all. He was the one she went running to when she needed comfort and reassurance. Without realizing what he was doing, he approached her as she sat on the bed and sunk down onto one knee. "Whatever you want to do is cool with me, Len. If you don't wanna go to the celebration, then we'll stay in all weekend. We'll get pizza and a six-pack of Guinness, we'll drink vodka, and we'll close the deal until neither of us can walk."

Half of her mouth curled up in a smile. "Sounds good to me. And besides, maybe after the celebration, we can track down McClain and Co. and spend some time with them." She shuddered. "I'm sure Lance will understand why we weren't there once he meets Wade."

"Yeah." Aidan remained on one knee, looking up at her. He gripped one of her hands, and placed his free hand on her knee. It was perfect. He was already in position. _Do it, you coward! _he scolded himself. _Ask her to marry you! It's not like you don't have the ring already!_

He opened his mouth, but the words could not come out. He choked on them when he saw what she was doing.

She'd lifted her necklace up from underneath her collar. She always wore that necklace with her three pendants - the white-gold cross her mother had given her for graduation, the silver cornicello he had given her, and of course, a platinum Tiffany wedding band that had been meant to be worn by a certain Viking. In the way she always did when she needed comfort, she'd absent-mindedly slipped Sven's ring onto her finger and kissed it. Then, sliding it off her finger, she stroked the smooth, cool platinum, caressing it with her thumb as a peaceful look came over her face.

How could he ask her to marry him now? She looked so blissful with Sven's ring around her finger. And then it dawned on him - he'd never even told Lenora that he loved her. Nearly ten months of dating, and he hadn't even had the courage to tell the girl that he loved her. No wonder he couldn't bring himself to propose to her. How could he propose to her if she didn't know for sure that he loved her?

Stupid.

With a sigh, he stood up, kissing her gently as he passed her lips. "You wanna know something, Babe?"

"What, Ace?"

_I love you. _Instead, he chickened out and said, "You're the best girl I ever could've asked for."

Close enough.

With a half-smile, she tucked her necklace back underneath her shirt and stood to embrace him. "Thanks, Ace. That means a lot." She tucked some wayward strands of wavy blond hair behind his ear, then laid her head down on his shoulder. He smelled...okay. He didn't smell like Sven. And he didn't smell as good as Commander Hawkins, either. She could tolerate it. Or get him a new cologne. One or the other. Maybe both.

That was the problem. Aidan wasn't Sven, and he never would be.

And why was she still thinking about the commander?

* * *

She was gone. He had irked her enough and ordered her around enough for her to leave. That was exactly how he wanted it.

Charles Herbert Wade had never been one for excuses or poor decisions. After all, he hadn't risen to the rank of Colonel on account of his good looks - which, according to some, were nonexistent. He was the type of man who set his sights on something and went for it. He always got was he was after. And he had been after the highest-ranked position in the Galaxy Garrison since...well, probably since before that little brat had even enrolled in the Space Academy.

_A girl. How could he have given such a position to a __girl__?_

It was inexcusable - an outrage, really - that Matthias Graham had retired and selected a young girl to take over for him. It was a slap in the face that he'd passed on better-qualified, higher-ranking officials for the young lieutenant. Wade snorted. He'd heard the rumors going around about Graham. How he had promoted Lenora from Tech Sargeant to Lieutenant immediately after graduation for unsavory, inappropriate reasons. He wondered if they were true.

And then there was that transmission to contend with. How could she have invited the Explorer and its crew back to the Garrison for the celebration? That would ruin everything. It would destroy all of his plans.

Unless he did something with that information. Yes, he would have to do something about it. He could feel a plan coming together in his mind, but the details weren't quite filling in. He was too irritated at the moment to mastermind a plot.

So he did something else instead.

He had been so busy trying to figure out why Graham had promoted Stensson to Space Marshal. He'd actually lost sleep over it, he was so obsessed with finding out the answer. But why was he obsessing? Why was he tormenting himself and running himself ragged when Lenora's classified file was within reach?

_If _he could get into the filing cabinet.

Yes, Wade realized how antiquated the system was. Really, who kept hard-copy records anymore? But that was exactly what Graham was: antiquated. He scoffed as he reached over to open the drawer.

Locked.

Enraged, he started ripping through the desk drawers. There had to be a key somewhere, there _had _to be. He pulled out every drawer, searched every inch of the desk. He even flipped the desk on its side to see if there was anything underneath.

Nothing.

He sat on the floor amidst a sea of papers, disks, and garbage. Useless junk, none of which could help him get into Graham's old-fashioned filing cabinet. Gritting his teeth, Wade made one more move. After bracing himself, he made one swift, powerful roundhouse kick to the side of the cabinet, towards the front of the drawer and two inches underneath the spot where the lock held in place. He dented the side of the cabinet enough to slip his finger underneath the lock and slide it upward, allowing him to open the drawer.

He sucked in his breath as he pulled out a wealth of classified files.

The files on everyone in the Voltron teams were in there. Wade sifted through the folders, looking at the names on the tabs. It was obvious that Vehicle Voltron had been listed first. _Aki, Jeffrey M. Chukker, Modoch. Dalloway, Aidan. Ellington, Ginger. Hawkins, Jonathan J. Izu, Marvin. Izumo, Shannon. Jack, Clifford W. Kaga, Lisa. Karateya, Zandee. Katz, Tangor. Keats, Crik M. Kirigas, Cinda. Kreuz, Wolo. Nagato, Hutch. Newley, Richard. Shinobu, Rocky. Stoker, Chip. _

What was Aidan Dalloway's file doing in with the Vehicle Team's folders? _Her boyfriend, _he thought angrily. He had never been part of the Voltron Vehicle Team. It made no sense.

He didn't dwell on it; he had other things to do. He also knew that he would go through each and every one of these folders after he went through Lenora's. He pushed aside the Vehicle Team's set of folders and moved to the set that comprised the Lion Force.

_Feld, Morgan. Garrett, Tsuyoshi. Holgersson, Sven. Kogane, Keith A. McClain, Lance C. Stensson, Lenora M. Stoker, Darrell._

Seven files. Why were there _seven _classified files for the Lion Voltron Force? All of these little discoveries caught him by surprise.

Ignoring the nagging questions in his head, he purposefully plucked Lenora's classified folder out of the filing cabinet. Since he was the interim chief, he had every right to know about Graham's chosen successor, did he not? Yes, he answered himself. Of course he did.

The photo on the top page of her file was not a recent headshot. It was dated six years prior, right before her graduation from the Space Academy. He studied her chestnut hair, her chocolate-brown eyes, her black-stained lips. Why Graham was so determined to have this girl as Space Marshal, he couldn't figure out from her photo. With those black lips, she looked like a punk.

He began to flip through her file, one sheet of paper at a time. As he read, he began to piece together why Graham liked this girl so much. Not only were her grades impeccable - despite her initial psychiatric evaluation, she'd managed to ace every single one of her classes - but she was the top-ranked systems analyst in her graduating class. He disliked her immediately, more than he originally had.

Her combat list was impressive. The girl had mastered three major forms of self-defense and practiced countless others. She was well-adept at nearly every form of weaponry the academic program had to offer. She was a solid pilot, good but not great. _ If she had been one of my classmates, I would've hated her._

But nothing could make him hate Lenora Stensson as much as the last page on her file. The page which was signed off by Lieutenant Stebbins.

He read Stebbins' report and felt the fury fill his body.

_"Lenora M. Stensson is the top-ranked systems analyst in her class, as well as one of the top five students overall. Her martial arts skills and weapons mastery, combined with her piloting skills, only reinforce our decision to send her to Arus. In addition, she has already formed friendships with Keith A. Kogane, Lance C. McClain, and Tsuyoshi "Hunk" Garrett; the rumor mill on the Space Academy campus believes that a marital engagement between her and Sven Holgersson is imminent._

_"Because of these findings, I strongly recommend Lenora M. Stensson for the Arusian expedition."_

So there it was. This brat had been chosen as one of the original five for the Voltron Force. Of course, she hadn't gone to Arus, Graham had personally held her back and sent that little Baltan brat in her place.

He closed the folder and slammed it down on the desk. This was too much for him. There was no way that one girl could have had so much in her favor. It seemed unreal to him that she could have been chosen both for the Voltron Force _and _as Space Marshal of the Galaxy Garrison. He had to do something about her.

He wanted to kill her. But he would settle for throwing her into the Void.

Shaking with rage, Wade began to piece together his plan. As he did so, he reached into the cabinet for the file on Jonathan Hawkins. _The Commander of the Vehicle Team. Now __he__ might be of use._

* * *

They weren't hotel rooms, but the rooms that Colonel Wade had reserved for them were a step above the dorm rooms at the Space Academy. Even if they _did _end up rooming together like they were still students.

They were plain rooms, off-white and tan with hard mattresses and worse pillows, two full-sized beds instead of standard-issue twins. Pidge and Hunk stayed in one room, Keith and Lance stayed in the other, and Allura stayed by herself in the room between the two. It was the proper thing to do.

Keith decided to check on the princess before he turned in for the night.

She was seated at the edge of the bed, brushing out her long golden hair. She'd kept it tied back for so long, it was odd to see her with it down. Seeing her like that, so casual and unguarded, made him feel a little self-conscious. "Uh, Princess? Allura? I hate to interrupt..."

"Nonsense. Come in." She stopped brushing her hair only long enough to pat the mattress beside her, wordlessly inviting him to sit next to her. "Is there something wrong?"

He shook his head so vigorously that his blue-black mullet bounced back and forth. "No, Princess. I just wanted to check in with you before I went to bed. I know this is the first time you've ever stayed on Garrison Island."

"Oh, I'm fine, thanks." She turned her emerald gaze towards him, wishing that he would come out and say whatever it was that he really wanted to say. Why did he hold himself in such rigid check all of the time? What was it with his reserve?

"Well, if you're sure you're all right...good night, Allura."

She kept her disappointment to herself. "Good night, Keith."

Once the captain had made his way back to his guest room, Lance had already changed into his pajamas. "Oh, man, these mattresses stink," he whined. "You couldn't close the deal on them if they were the last mattresses in existence."

"Ha. Well, it's not like Ginger's here for you to do the honors with."

Lance chucked a pillow at Keith, which caused him to jump out of the way. "Careful, Lance! Those things are hard enough to do actual damage and bodily harm!"

The Red Lion pilot cracked up. "That was the point, Chief. Gods, why you gotta be so..._cranky_ all the time?"

"I am _not _cranky!"

"Yeah, you totally are. You're crankypants!" Lance laughed hard enough to need to hold his ribs in place. "Oh, geez, that was funny. I haven't laughed that hard in a _long _time." He looked over at Keith, who was trying not to laugh, but the amusement was evident in his turquoise eyes.

"Are you done?"

"Yeah, I think so." Lance sprawled out in his bed with his one remaining pillow. His face softened for a moment. "Hey, Keith?"

The Voltron captain had laid back in his own bed and had already closed his eyes. "What is it, Lance?"

"I want you to know that when I see my Sis tomorrow, I'm gonna tell her that Sven's still alive."

Keith's eyes popped open, and he swallowed. After all of their adventures, he knew that the princess of Pollux was smitten with their dark-haired Viking. He was also sure that the Garrison didn't have confirmation of Sven's whereabouts, or if he was even alive. Sure, _they _knew, but no one had reported anything on Sven Holgersson to the Garrison.

If Lenora found out that Sven was still alive, she would want him back, and Keith had no doubts that his friend would go running back to her. And that would crush Romelle. But what worried him more was that maybe Lenora had moved on and _wouldn't _want Sven back, which would leave the Norwegian a shattered mess. Sven had been fractured too many times since leaving Earth for Arus. How many more times could he crack until he broke for good?

He cleared his throat. "Well, Lance, if you think that's a good idea..."

"Whether it's a good idea or not, it's the right thing to do."

"Okay. If you say so." With a yawn, Keith ended the conversation, and then rolled onto his shoulder to go to sleep.


	3. Paint It Black

_Author's Note__: Just to get this off my chest, I have NEVER agreed with the NickToons cartoon in terms of Wade. First of all, as far as I'm concerned (and I'm sure a lot of people agree with me on this), the lions had never been uncovered until our favorite space explorers went to Arus. So therefore, there is no way that Wade ever could have sat in - and been rejected by - Black Lion. In addition, I dislike the idea of the Wade/Kala/Lotor spider thingy. It's not necessarily bad, but for me, it doesn't work. If I ever work the idea of that Haggarium-infused spider into my stories, it will be Commander Kala only._

_To AA - Welcome aboard! It's good to have you. And it's like I always say, I'll keep writing because my readers are the best!_

_To Sally On - Wade's gonna make his move in this chapter - EEEK! (BTW, I am starved for your fiction...throw your girl a scrap!)_

_To Wade Wells - Thanks, Lovey! You're the first fan in my fan club. I'll email you soon so we can have a chat...and I've got a GREAT bottle of wine. (Don't I always?)_

_**Part 3: "Paint It Black" by Rolling Stones**_

* * *

The day had been uneventful, to say the least.

At the insistence of Colonel Wade, the Voltron Lion Force had stayed close to the Garrison over the course of the day. Keith had been skeptical - why was the colonel in charge and not the new Space Marshal, anyway? - but had nonetheless gone along with the game plan without question, ensuring that his teammates did as well.

For Keith, it was an instance of keeping his friends close and his enemies closer. He did not trust Wade. At all.

Something seemed off. The Voltron captain did not like the way this man fawned over the lions. He also didn't like the fact that he introduced himself as the interim Marshal. "Where's the real Space Marshal?" Keith had asked him. "We were informed that Graham had retired, and had appointed a new Space Marshal in his place. There was no mention of an _interim _Space Marshal."

At that, Wade had gritted his teeth. "Graham did appoint someone else, yes. That being said, the new Space Marshal is far too young and inexperienced, and is currently on probation. Hence the reason I am the interim Marshal."

The team didn't like it, just as much as they didn't like the fact that Wade spent the day in the hangar with the lions. He studied them just a little _too _closely. He obsessed over them just a little _too _much. Yet he always seemed to have a distraction for them: visit this group of people, check out this part of the Garrison, add your input to the new analysis and engineering departments...

The Voltron Force had spent the day being too busy to keep tabs on the lions.

As the ceremony approached, Allura watched from the dais in worry as throngs of people began to crowd around. "Something's not right," she whispered to Lance, gently tugging at his arm. "There's something wrong here. I just get this feeling like something's _off_."

Lance felt it too. Much like Keith, he didn't like Wade, and he didn't trust him as far as he could throw him. "I hear you, Princess. But for now, let's just hang tight and follow orders. We'll wait for our fearless leader to make the first move."

She nodded in agreement, but she didn't like it.

* * *

Christiane was by herself.

Lenora had been kicked off Garrison grounds, so she would not be at the victory celebration. By default, Aidan wouldn't be there, either. Without support from her best friends, Morgan had also opted not to go to the celebration, and stayed home with her husband David. Kelly had decided against going as well, especially once word got out that the Explorer wasn't going to make it - she preferred to sulk in the privacy of her apartment.

She knew that there would be a lot of her coworkers and old classmates from the Academy at the celebration, but they were the last thing on her mind. She wanted to be alone. In fact, she needed it to be that way. She didn't want anyone to make the connection that Keith was her brother.

The lions were impressive. Black was flanked on either side by Red and Green. Blue was next to Red, and Yellow was next to Green. Their majesty took Christiane's breath away, and she suddenly felt humbled. She also felt honored that Black Lion had chosen her brother. Though she knew that Keith didn't have a care in the universe for her, she still felt pride that it was _her _blood that was its pilot.

She felt something else. Something..._off_.

The crowd that had gathered was impressive, loud and noisy and excited. Christiane, having staked her position on the balcony of a nearby Garrison-owned building, had a bird's-eye view of the dais and podium. She didn't want to get too close. She knew she would fall apart if she was too close.

A hush ran through the crowd as Wade took the podium, the Voltron Force behind him. She caught her breath and gazed at Keith in his black-and-grey uniform, his turquoise eyes - _her _turquoise eyes! - scanning the crowd. What was he doing? Was it possible that he was looking for her? She wanted to scream, _"Up here, Akira-chan!"_

She noticed his teammates, as well. The green-dressed boy with the glasses who looked near her age. The big guy in yellow with the bulging muscles, and the red-clad guy with the arrogant expression on his face. The tiny, beautiful, golden-haired princess in blue.

The sadness shot through her. It seemed so odd that these people were so close to him. That he considered _them_ to be his family and not her. She wondered if he ever thought of her at all.

Then there was no more time to wonder. The princess approached the podium to give a speech after Colonel Wade stepped down. Then the lions began to roar, and all seven hells broke loose.

* * *

Daniel had been trying to act cool, even though he was so excited he almost vomited. The lions were right there in front of him. They were so close, and they were so _huge_. And the pilots...the pilots were right there! Keith - his idol, his hero - was right there! He wanted to touch him. He wanted to _be _him.

He was freaking out.

"This is something else, huh, Daniel," his father mentioned as he tried to see over the crowds of people. "I knew you loved the Voltron Force, but I didn't realize there were so many other people that did, too."

"See, Dad? I told you they were the greatest." The boy admired Keith's stance, his physique, his hair. Someday, he wanted to be just like him. And someday, he was sure that he'd pilot Black Lion. He had to. He loved Voltron so much, there was no other choice than to lead the team and pilot Black.

As if Black was listening, the lion lifted its head, slowly but menacingly, and began to growl. The other lions followed suit. From the podium, Allura stopped her speech mid-sentence and lifted her head to see what the fuss was about. She saw the red glow in its eyes as it reared up on its hind legs and roared.

_Oh, no. What's happening?_

As soon as Black went wild, the other lions followed suit. The princess, horrified, looked over at her teammates and fellow pilots. Namely to Keith, just to see what he would do. How he would act. How he would lead them.

Nothing. He did nothing. He stood wide-eyed, locking his gaze on Black Lion, which seemed to smirk back at him as it led the pride through a charge. There wasn't supposed to be a Lion parade, but it seemed there would be one now, and under the worst possible circumstances.

The crowds began screaming. Running. There were too many people gathered around, and the lions were too big; it was inevitable that there would be high a number of casualties. Physical injuries. Psychological damage. Death.

She knew that their team leader knew it.

"Activate your VoltComs _now_!" he screeched.

Pidge was the first to make contact with his lion. "Keith, there's something wrong!" he shouted, panic filling his voice. "The lions - it's like they've been brain-washed! Something's taken control of them!"

"Well, _that's_ not good," Lance cracked nervously as he watched Red Lion spit out flames. He was sure a building was about to be on fire. Or, worse, people. "Anything we can do about it?"

The systems analyst shrugged frantically. "I don't know yet."

Hunk ran after his lion, shrieking. Yellow Lion was using its tail as a wrecking mace, smashing it onto the ground and narrowly avoiding hitting people. It did, however, clobber the road enough to break up streets, take down trees, and destroy a few vehicles, a police cruiser included.

Allura tried in horror to contact Blue Lion, which opened its mouth and unleashed a deluge of water. Yes, it erased the fire damage done by Red, but it left a flood in its wake, which was even more devastating. "My God. What's happening? What is _wrong _with them?"

"I don't know," Keith answered darkly, narrowing his eyes into turquoise slits, "but I'm about to find out." Activating his VoltCom, he drew out two katana blades. Holding them in a defiant stance, he screeched, "BLACK LION! I CHALLENGE YOU!"

The other lions in the pride continued on their destructive path, but Black heard him. It turned, roaring at him menacingly with its red eyes, and charged towards the Voltron captain, unconcerned with whatever it brought down in its path. Keith was ready.

"Keith, no!" Pidge shouted.

He jumped.

It was more of a leap than a jump, and even that did not accurately describe his movement. It was almost as though Keith _flew_, driving his katanas into the side of the lion, using them to climb all the way up to the cockpit, inch by agonizing inch. Black tried to shake him off, but he held tight, refusing to let go. Then, with every last bit of strength in him, he catapulted himself into the cockpit through Black's mouth.

The lion roared, furious, but it was too late.

Once seated in the cockpit, Keith attempted to draw up the computer screen. Nothing. It was blank. He flipped a switch, pressed a few buttons. Still nothing. There wasn't any time, so without thinking, he hooked his VoltCom up to the lion. If he could just get some information...if he could just know what was going on...

Just like that, everything stopped.

Whatever it was, hooking the VoltCom up to the lion did the trick. Immediately, Black calmed down, sending a message to the others in its pride to do the same. Keith felt the lion sink down to a resting position, its head nestled comfortably on its front paws like it was a real cat. Somehow, the mayhem and destruction had stopped, just as quickly as it had started.

And Keith, overwhelmed, buried his face in his hands and burst into tears.

* * *

"For this, I can't let you take them back."

Tears streamed down Allura's face as Lance wrapped a comforting arm around her. Pidge held her other hand tightly. For some reason, Hunk - and who ever would have thought that _Hunk _of all people would have had it in him? - shouted menacingly at the colonel, "Who says we can't take 'em back?"

Wade's expression twisted as he stared at the remaining Force members. "Did you not just see what transpired here in such a short amount of time on account of your lions, Tech Sargeant Garrett? I haven't seen the likes of such destruction in God knows how many years! Maybe never!" His face reddened as the anger blossomed and surged through his system. "The new Space Marshal invited you all here on behalf of the Garrison to celebrate your victory over Planet Doom and the end of the Zarkonian Wars, and _this _is how you repay us? By setting your lions loose on a rampage?"

"Colonel, please -" Allura choked out, but Wade cut her off.

"No. This is too much. The risk is too great." Wade shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. "I cannot let you take them back. If you try, I will have all of you imprisoned."

Keith approached them sullenly. He could tell just from the looks on his teammates' and Wade's faces that things weren't going well. His eyes were heavy-lidded and red-rimmed as he addressed the colonel. "Sir...I don't even know where to begin...I don't know what to say..."

"I do." Wade looked them all over with a scorn-filled expression. "The keys. I want all of your keys. Hand them over, or I will be forced to arrest you." He took one last, hard look at the captain. "Now."

"You heard the man." Sighing, Keith unclipped his Black Lion key from his uniform shirt and handed it over. He hated the smug look in the colonel's steely eyes as the man gripped his fingers around it, but there was nothing more he could do. Besides, he needed to buy them some time. They needed to think, they needed to figure out what in the universe had just happened. And they could only do that if Wade was sufficiently calmed down.

One by one, his teammates handed over their keys. Allura, as expected, was last - Voltron belonged to her planet, and she was the least happy about ceding the giant robot over to the man she now viewed as the enemy. Once Wade was in possession of all five keys, he nodded to the men standing next to him. Armed guards.

Keith had thought that they'd been his bodyguards. He was wrong. Which made him wonder if Wade wasn't somehow behind all of this.

"These men will escort you back to your rooms," Wade informed them. "You five will be in lockdown and under surveillance until such a time that I can figure out what to do with the lions. I will let you know as soon as I have an idea."

"You mean, you're confining us to our rooms? Like we're under house arrest?" Lance shot out angrily. "I suppose next you'll be telling us we can't talk to each other!"

Wade turned his gaze towards the Red Lion pilot. "You are all confined to your rooms until further notice, Sargeant McClain." He raised an eyebrow. "Unless, of course, you'd prefer for me to have you arrested and thrown into the Galactic Prison...?"

Lance shut his mouth, but he still shot the colonel the look of death.

"Colonel Wade, we'll go back to our rooms," Keith agreed quietly, looking over at his teammates. "We understand that this is a very difficult situation. We'll await further instructions."

At those words, Wade's stance and demeanor both softened a bit. "Thank you for being so reasonable about this, Captain Kogane. I assure you, I will make this investigation a top priority. I don't want to keep you under surveillance any longer than I have to." He looked over at the armed guards again. "Now, please see our guests back to their rooms and tend to their needs."

"Yes, Sir," the head guard, Carl Scroggins, replied. He barked commands to his men, and the Voltron Force was escorted back to their rooms.

But not before Lance shot the look of death again, this time aimed at Scroggins.

* * *

The space station was a dive, but Sven had no other choice but to stop. The magnetic storm was huge. Powerful. Destructive. And the navigator wasn't about to die now. Not when he was so close. Not after everything he'd survived.

There were a lot of ships docked around the space station. No one could move; the storm was that large. It didn't seem like anyone would be moving any time soon, so he wandered into the rest stop and sat down at the bar to order himself a drink.

The bartender was a pretty blue-skinned, green-haired Miran girl who reminded him a lot of Cinda. He thought about how nice it would be to see his old friends and floormates again. Even Aidan. He knew that he hadn't had the best relationship with the self-proclaimed "best-looking guy on the floor," but he was over it. Lenora loved _him_, not Aidan, and that was the end of the story.

He scoffed to himself, _She __never__ would have dated Aidan._

The bartender approached him, a smile on her pretty face. "What can I get for you?" she asked sweetly.

"I'd love a vodka tonic. Do you have Ciroc?"

She shook her head. "Unfortunately, I don't. I do have other Earth imports, though. Grey Goose, Belvedere..."

"Belvedere works," he answered.

"Coming right up."

As she made his drink, the Norwegian looked out at his Polluxian cruiser. Again, he felt guilty. Everything lately made him feel guilty. Now that he was so close to finding his _elskede_, he felt guilty about Romelle. He loved the princess, he did. They'd spent a long time together on Doom, and it was only natural that he would grow fond of her. But he didn't love her in the same all-consuming way he loved Lenora.

The Miran bartender returned a moment later with his drink. Using intergalactic currency, he paid his bill and left a generous tip, then toyed with the stirrer in his drink. Despite the fact that he couldn't wait to get back to Earth, he was grateful for the alone time. He needed to purge his mind of his memories with Romelle to be ready for his _elskede_.

Lifting the glass to his lips, he took a slow sip. Soon. Soon she would be in his arms again, and nothing from the past six years would matter anymore. Not the robeast attack, not the time spent as a slave on Doom. She would be the only thing that would ever matter again.

* * *

Though they were under surveillance, Wade had underestimated Pidge's genius. Though he was merely the second-best systems analyst in their graduating class, he was still better than any other tech sargeant currently in the Garrison's employ. Using his technical skills, the Green Lion pilot had cunningly hacked into the surveillance system from his laptop computer, killing the sound. He thought it would be _too _suspicious if the entire system went down, so he got rid of the sound only. If they spoke quietly enough, even the guards outside their doors wouldn't be able to hear them.

They got to work quickly.

On the way back to their rooms, Keith had stealthily slipped his VoltComs over to Pidge for an information transfer. Pidge was much better at processing the information, but there would be no time to transfer the information once they were more or less locked into their rooms. Again, the circumstances made the Voltron captain wonder if this had been a trap. A meticulously-laid trap.

"Whattaya think, Shorty?" Hunk asked as their youngest teammate sat on his bed with his laptop. He positioned himself purposely; with the screen facing the wall, no surveillance camera could see what was on the screen. "You find out the reason that the lions went crazy yet?"

His green eyes glaring at the screen, Pidge nodded his head. "It's a virus, Hunk. While we were running around the Garrison, somebody loaded a virus into the lions. Like a computer virus, one made to attack the inner workings of each lion. The interlocks. The dynatherms. The infracells. The megathrusters."

And the lions, being made of memory metal, had gone crazy trying to rid their innermost workings of the parasite that had attached.

"So this was done on purpose, then," Hunk mused, crossing his arms and shaking his head. "This was planned. It was a set-up."

"I think it was." Pidge closed his laptop computer. "Somebody wanted this to happen. I don't know _why_, but that's how it looks." He looked up at the big engineer. "It had to be someone at the Garrison. It _had _to be."

Hunk agreed. And he knew that Keith and the rest of the team would, too.

* * *

Crik had a bad feeling.

The Sea Team captain was known for having premonitions that often came true. Jeff, Cliff, and Commander Hawkins had come to trust whatever bad feelings the Miran had about any given mission. So if Crik had a bad feeling about going back to Earth, then something was most definitely wrong.

"Yes. I feel it too," Cinda agreed quietly, looking disturbed. "I was trying to ignore it, hoping it would go away. It's hard for me, because they're my family."

Ginger's eyes widened with horror. "You think it's about the other Voltron Force?" she asked, terror creeping into her voice. "Do you think they're in trouble? Do we need to go rescue them?"

"Oh, calm down, Lemon Drop," Jeff attempted to soothe her. His words resulted in her fist meeting his upper arm. "Ow!"

"You deserved that," Lisa told him.

Chip's face crumpled. "Do you think they're okay?" he mumbled. He looked like he was about to cry. "I mean, I don't know what I'll do if something bad's happened to Pidge. How am I gonna tell Mom and Dad?"

Cliff placed a hand on the youngest Air Team member's shoulder. "Let's not panic just yet, Chip."

Crik looked over all of them. He had been a year ahead of them at the Academy, so he hadn't spent much time with them before the Explorer and didn't really know their friends on the other Voltron Force, but he still understood the bonds that existed between them. Loyalty. Friendship. Family. "I agree. Let's not panic yet. Maybe things aren't as bad as we think - my premonitions have been known to be off before." He looked out the window at the magnetic storm. It seemed to be clearing, but it was taking its time. "Let's hope this storm doesn't last too much longer."

* * *

Wade knew what he was doing when he called the emergency meeting of the High Council to session. All of the pieces were in place. Now, like the queen in a game of chess, he was was about to strike and go in for the kill.

The lions. Of course they had to go crazy. How could he bring down the Defender of the Universe otherwise? He'd have no excuse to hold onto their keys, no reason to hold them in his possession otherwise. He _had_ to plant that virus.

Of course he had to ban Lenora from the celebration. She was not only the Space Marshal, she was their friend. He'd read her classified file. She would not only get in the way, she'd fight him tooth and nail on behalf of the Voltron Force.

She had to go down. In fact, the whole of the Galaxy Garrison elite had to go down. It would start now.

As Wade walked into the conference room, he was greeted by the High Council. He had never bothered to learn their names, never felt there was any need. He knew Lieutenants Brown and Stebbins, of course, and he knew that bald bespectacled freak Loehmann on sight, but the others were too bland and personality-less for him to even care. At the head of the table, he stood and saluted. They saluted back.

"I'm here to discuss what happened this evening at the victory celebration," he told them as he sat down.

The rest of the High Council followed, seating themselves appropriately around the table. As he expected, that arrogant bald-headed Loehmann stood first. "It was a nightmare," he conceded, shaking his head. "We're sure to be processing this incident for weeks. Perhaps months."

"It looks bad for the Garrison," a pudgy man with close-cropped dark hair added. "_We_ hosted the victory celebration, only to have this happen? I shudder to think what the newspapers will say tomorrow."

Wade grinned. That was the perfect segue into what he'd wanted to bring up first. "About that. I do hope that all of you realize that it was Space Marshal Stensson, who is currently on probation, who organized this victory celebration. Did anyone notice that she was suspiciously absent from the festivities?"

The members of the High Council exchanged glances, stunned at this information. Brown and Stebbins also looked at each other, but they were skeptical of Wade - they knew Lenora personally. She had worked with them for six years, and they knew what a hard worker she was. They trusted her. They didn't trust _him_.

Another High Council member, this one a tall, lanky man with an oblong face and pale strawberry-blond hair, stood to address the colonel. "Colonel Wade, I'd like to make a motion to remove Space Marshal Stensson from her post. This is too great of an offense to dismiss, and she is only in her probation period."

As other High Council members stood up in agreement, Wade smiled to himself. This was exactly what he wanted to happen. He _wanted _the High Council to turn on Lenora. As long as they were the ones to dispose of her, he would be blameless in the act.

"So then, a vote. And remember, the vote must be unanimous," Wade called out, confidence and adrenaline running through his veins in equal amounts. "All those in favor of removing Lenora Marie Stensson from her appointed position as Space Marshal of the Galaxy Alliance, and of appointing me to the position in her stead, please stand now."

One by one, each member stood at the table. It was a unanimous decision. Wade was in, and Lenora was out.

"Though I must say," Loehmann interjected, "that because you were not appointed by the previous Space Marshal, you cannot take the title of Space Marshal. You must go by the title of _Sky Marshal _instead."

"Fair enough." Wade wasn't about to argue semantics with them. As long as he had the position locked down, he didn't care what they wanted to call him. "For my first order of business as Sky Marshal, I would like to investigate the matter of the Voltron Force lions personally. Particularly Black Lion. I'd like to have it moved to a secret location. That way I can investigate it at my leisure."

"What of the other four lions?" an older, pale-haired Council member asked.

"As long as I have their keys, it doesn't matter. I am toying with the idea of letting Princess Allura return them to her home planet of Arus. If I have the keys _and _Black Lion, Voltron will be out of commission until I have completed my investigation."

Glances and nods were thrown around the table. Everyone seemed to be in agreement. Which brought Wade to the second phase of his plan.

"Now, for my second order of business. I'd like to recall the Stellar Ship Explorer and its crew, namely the Voltron Vehicle Team, to the Garrison for good. I see no need to continue to waste money and valuable supplies on its mission, particularly since the new Planet Drule has been colonized and has a strong, effective leader in Commander Hazar." Wade knew that this was a sore spot with the High Council. For years, they had been trying to convince Space Marshal Graham and Commander Steele to rethink the importance of the Explorer's mission based on its expenses. But now that both men had retired, it would be easy enough to kill the mission.

"Amen!" Loehmann shouted joyously, pausing to reposition his glasses on his face. "I've been saying this for years. I'll be the first person to support the recall." He looked around the table, almost as if to bully the other Council members into supporting him. "There's no need for Galaxy Garrison to throw good money after an obsolete mission."

Slowly, perhaps reluctantly, other Council members agreed until the decision was unanimous. The Explorer was returning to New York anyway. It would be easy enough to ground the ship once it was docked. They just wouldn't say anything until after the ship was back at the Garrison.

"Very good. I'd like to thank you gentlemen for ousting Miss Stensson as Space Marshal, for appointing me as Sky Marshal, for allowing me to keep Black Lion in my possession, and for discontinuing the mission of Vehicle Voltron and the Explorer." Wade stood at the head of the table, a cruel grin spreading over his face. "And now for the final phase of my plan. I will retain sole command of the Galaxy Garrison. As of this moment, I am disbanding the High Council. Your positions have all been terminated. _Get out."_

* * *

Aidan's eyes fluttered open. It was dark in the room. He had no idea what day it was, or what time it was. The only thing he knew of a surety was that his girlfriend was with him, sound asleep in his bed. That made him happy.

Since she had arrived at his apartment, he'd done nothing but try to cheer her up. They'd made a run to the package store for Guinness and Ciroc. They'd ordered a couple of pizzas for delivery. They'd talked and eaten and laughed, carefully avoiding the topic of the celebration. Then he'd taken her to his bed and closed the deal with her until they were both exhausted.

He quietly moved around the bed so he wouldn't wake her up. He tied back his disheveled blond hair and moved to the refrigerator. There was still some leftover pizza, and it was really _good _pizza - Hunk and Rocky would have been proud. He pulled out a cold slice and sat down on the couch in front of the viewing screen.

_This is the life, _he thought to himself as he turned on the viewing screen and lowered the volume so it wouldn't bother Lenora. _Pizza, alcohol, and my best girl. It doesn't get any better than this._

He folded the slice in half - _Gotta love the New York-style thin crust _- and bit into it as he watched the screen. It was very early in the morning, but there was breaking news out of the Garrison. The female news anchor, the one with the silly bouffant that took three cans of hairspray to hold in place, was reporting on the night's events and the tragedy that occurred when the Voltron Force lost control of their lions.

Dread suddenly filled Aidan's stomach, and he put his pizza down. He was so horrified, he couldn't even process what had happened. He only heard bits and phrases of what the news anchor was saying; the words slid through his ears like they had no meaning. _The celebration was commandeered by Space Marshal Stensson...Early reports of casualties in the low numbers...High numbers of reported injuries...The Voltron Force currently under house arrest at the Garrison..._

Oh, seven _hells_.

Disturbed, he shut off the viewing screen and threw out the rest of his slice. He had no desire to finish it. And he didn't want to tell his girlfriend what had happened, because he knew what was coming - the Garrison would somehow find a way to place all of the blame on her.

With cold fear filling his body, he got back into bed and threw his arms around her. She stirred in her sleep, but didn't wake up, and he was grateful for it. He wanted her to sleep for just a little while longer. He wanted to protect her for as long as he could. Because he knew that when she woke, Lenora would find that her entire world had come crashing down.


	4. Called Out in the Dark

_Author's Note__: This was a tough chapter for me to write. Not because of the content, but because I have suddenly developed minor health issues that are taking up a lot of my time. Expect updates to be a bit slower until I get everything figured out._

_To Emie Mac - The team's about to go through a lot more before this is all over. And when I say team, I should really say __teams__. (Our boy Jeff included!)_

_To bknbu - 'Tis the season to be working crazy hours, right? Hey, as long as you're enjoying the story, that makes me happy. ;)_

_To Mer3Girl - Yea! I am so glad you're reading this one as it unfolds. Thank you for the compliments, and you know I love you back._

_To Sally On - One of the funniest things I've found is that I really, truly enjoy writing Maahox and Wade. Who would've thought? And I am so glad you enjoyed the scene with the lions - I'm not the best action writer, and I was really hoping to do the moment justice._

_To Wade Wells - Should I use the Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc or the MollyDooker "Two Left Feet" Shiraz/Cab/Merlot blend? I'm planning ahead for our girls nite in._

_**Part 4: "Called Out in the Dark" by Snow Patrol**_

* * *

When Wade woke up the following morning - his first as Sky Marshal - things seemed better than they ever had. Not only did he have the top-ranking position in the Alliance, but he had possession of Black Lion and he had ousted Lenora from the Garrison entirely. And soon, the Explorer would be landing, and then Vehicle Voltron would be grounded.

Even better, the landing would bring him Jonathan Hawkins. After reading his classified file, Wade was more than impressed with the commander's background and history. He hadn't realized that his uncle, Jacob Christopher Hawkins, had been the man at the helm of the steel mill that had commissioned nearly every ship used by the Garrison. He didn't realize that he had graduated first-ranked from the Space Academy. He didn't realize how much clearance and authority the man had gained throughout the Garrison during his sixteen-year career.

This was the type of person that Wade wanted as his second-in-command; he needed someone of his rank to make sure that the threat of Lenora Stensson was neutralized. It also made him wonder how Graham could have passed Hawkins up as his successor. Perhaps those rumors had been true, after all. Perhaps the old man _was _having an affair with his young, pretty lieutenant.

Despite how she had been named successor, Wade knew that the deposed Space Marshal was a fighter. Between her talents in the different forms of martial arts and her skills with any weapon she could get her hands on, he knew there was no way she would simply slink off into the sunset, tail between her legs. She was combative. She would fight him for the position, and she would fight on behalf of the Voltron Force. _Both _Voltron Forces. Granted, he knew that Commander Hawkins would also fight on behalf of his Voltron Force, but the man seemed more politically inclined and rational than Lenora. If Hawkins saw that the team was being disbanded, he would be more the type of person to go along with it - as long as he had a position to fall back on, naturally - than fight against the change. Yet another reason Wade wanted him as his second-in-command.

If he stopped to think about it, Wade couldn't really figure out why he wanted to control over Galaxy Garrison and all of the planets in the Galaxy Alliance. The best answer he could come to was that it was easy, and power was addicting. At first, he was angry that Graham had passed up a man of his caliber, but he found it so easy to obtain control of the Garrison. Why not take control of Voltron and the entire Alliance if he could?

With the title of Sky Marshal _and _Black Lion in his possession, there was nothing in the universe he couldn't conquer. And that feeling of unlimited power and control was dazzling. It was like a drug. The more he tasted it, the more he craved it. The more he would do anything for it.

And he _would _do anything for it.

* * *

Captain Newley and Commander Hawkins had heeded Crik's premonition. When the magnetic storm cleared up enough for them to get through - and they were _really _pushing it; the storm was still strong enough to destroy any ships smaller than the Explorer - they flew at top speed back to Earth, docking in New York in record time. Instead of disembarking the entire crew, Hawkins held everyone on the stationary ship while he attended to business.

He hoped that Lenora would be there to greet him. She wasn't.

"So, _you _are Commander Jonathan James Hawkins. In person," the uniformed personnel greeted him.

It seemed sketchy. _Off. _"Yes, I am," Hawkins answered after a pause, extending his arm for a handshake. "And you are...?"

"Charles Herbert Wade. The Sky Marshal of the Galaxy Alliance."

_What? _Furrowing his eyebrows, he muttered, "I was under the impression that the _Space _Marshal of the Galaxy Alliance was Lenora Stensson."

"Well, she _was_. Until yesterday." Wade shot him a nasty grin filled with gleaming teeth. "There was an..._incident_...yesterday during the victory celebration. The Voltron Lion Force is currently under house arrest on Garrison grounds, and Lenora Stensson was unanimously voted out of her position by the High Council." _Which I conveniently disbanded afterwards._

Because the commander had spent his entire life around the Garrison, involved with it in one way or another, he knew better than to betray any emotion. His face became a blank canvas as he attempted to assess what this crazy man's motives and plans were, and his voice grew silky and calm. "I see. And why were we, the crew on the Explorer, not made aware of these turns of events?"

Wade knew that Commander Hawkins would not like the answer. Why would he, when the real reason was because he found the Explorer's mission to be obsolete and would therefore disband the entire crew? No, better to let them all find out _after _they landed. "These turns of events were very recent, Commander." He waved his arm in a polite manner. "Why don't you follow me back to my office so I can give you more details?"

Hawkins felt a knot form in his stomach. He somehow knew that he wasn't going to like what the new Sky Marshal would have to say. But he followed anyway, because - like it or not - the news was going to change their entire world.

* * *

When Morgan heard the news, she'd almost thrown up.

How she kept it together while teaching Advanced Navigation, she didn't know. She should have just canceled the class; there was no way she could pay attention to her students or the curriculum. But she knew how bad it would look if she did that, so she attempted to channel her inner Viking - _Thanks, Sven _- and go on with class.

Keith. Keith was under house arrest. How was that even possible?

Morgan knew Keith better than anyone. _Anyone._ He was the most responsible person she had ever met. Responsible, serious, stable, practical, even-tempered - also emotionally stunted, but that was beside the point - to where it just seemed so out of character for him to lose control of Black Lion. Sure, she could see Lance or Hunk or Pidge losing control of their lions, but not Keith.

After class, she made it a point to find Christiane.

Jeff was the one who'd told her about Christiane's existence. Keith had a sister he couldn't bear to see; he'd asked Jeff to watch over her after he left for Arus. Of course, no one could have known at that time that Jeff would be appointed to captain of his own Voltron Force a few months later and wouldn't be on Earth to keep an eye on her. So Morgan had been appointed. Morgan became the guardian and the big sister, all in one tidy package.

The girl looked just as shaken up as she was. "Let's get lunch," the systems analyst suggested, even though neither one of them was hungry. They were too disturbed by the news. They walked in silence to the cafeteria, where they both bought a pre-packaged sandwich and sat outside on the quad. It was a beautiful day. How could this have happened?

Christiane bit into her sandwich and stared up into the cloudless sky. Severe clear. That was what the weather forecasters and airline pilots called such a sky. She felt the same as Morgan; it was impossible that this could have happened on account of the Voltron Force pilots' error. This was all due to something else. Something far more sinister.

They both knew it.

* * *

The world might as well have ended.

Lenora wasn't sure which was worse - the fact that she had been blamed for the entire fiasco surrounding the lions, or that she had officially been dethroned and only found out through watching the news. Aidan sat next to her on the couch and held her hand as they watched the viewing screen. Apparently, nothing near as exciting as the lions going crazy had happened, making for a slow news day.

"I cannot believe," she seethed at the screen, "that the High Council dismissed me and didn't have to _cojones_ to tell me."

"Yeah. That's awful." He squeezed her hand, wishing there was something he could do to make the situation better for her. If there was a way, he couldn't think of it. "Do you think maybe they tried to call you to let you know?"

"Not sure. Let me check my phone." Leaning over the arm of the couch, Lenora picked up her messenger bag from off the floor. She had a cheap phone that couldn't hold a charge if her life depended on it, and she hadn't brought her charger with her - she'd left it at her studio in the Valley. As she lifted it out of its pouch, she realized that the battery was dead. "Well, maybe they did. But I don't know for sure. I have no charge on this thing."

Aidan sighed. "It's kind of important that you find out, Babe. I mean, this is your career we're talking about. Charge your phone and check to see if they called you or not. And if they didn't, I'd storm into the Garrison HQ if I were you. I'd shoot first and ask questions later."

A slight smile touched her lips. "Yeah. You're right, I should check." She leaned over to give him a quick kiss. "I'm gonna go home, Ace. I'll charge my phone and see if I got a phone call from the Garrison. If I didn't, then I'm heading over there and demanding an explanation." As she took note of the worried look on his face, she added, "I'll call you and keep you updated."

He nodded, still worried. "Okay. As soon as you find anything out, let me know."

"I will." She gathered up her messenger bag and put her high-heeled boots on, then Aidan escorted her to the door. "Thanks for everything, Ace."

"Um...sure." _I love you. _He kissed her good-bye, gently, on the lips, then watched her down the hallway until she stepped into the elevator. Waving at each other, she stepped into the elevator shaft, and he returned to his apartment and locked the door behind him.

If he had known that that would be the last time he would ever kiss his girlfriend, he would have made it into something more memorable.

* * *

Commander Hawkins was uneasy as he sat down across the desk from Sky Marshal Wade. The man looked almost maniacal, like he was drunk with power and the ecstasy that came with it. He realized that the last time he'd seen anyone look like that, it was Viceroy Throk.

_That _did not bode well for anyone.

"Commander," Wade began, easing himself down into his seat, "I will be blunt. I have done some things and made some decisions since being voted into this position. But let me be clear: I did not vote to strip Lenora Stensson of her rank. The High Council did that, and they have since been disbanded."

"I see." The commander's gut twisted at the mention of her name. A nameless fear swept over him, and it was all he could do to stay in the seat instead of rushing off to find her to make sure she was safe. Boyfriend or not, he wanted Lenora in his arms to ensure that she was protected from this madman. That was the only way he would know for sure that she was safe.

"Since there is no longer a High Council," Wade continued, "I decided that I needed to appoint a second-in-command. And after looking through your classified file, Commander, I believe that you are the best man for the job."

Hawkins swore he stopped breathing. He had to have blacked out for a split second. Was this man _serious_? "Sir, I am honored that you deem me worthy of appointing to such a prestigious position, but I must decline. I am the Commander of the Stellar Ship Explorer and the Voltron Vehicle Force. My duties lie there."

Wade shook his head. "Not anymore, Commander. In their final act before being disbanded, the High Council unanimously voted to recall the Explorer for good, and to ground the Vehicle Team indefinitely."

Now the commander felt ill. "If the High Council voted for that - as well as to depose Lenora Stensson as Space Marshal - isn't it within your power to overturn their decisions now that they're no longer a part of the Garrison?"

The Sky Marshal grinned evilly, and Hawkins knew that he was treading in dangerous waters. "I _could_, Commander, but I happen to agree with their decisions. The High Council and the Vehicle Team remain disbanded, and the Explorer - your uncle's ship, I might add - remains grounded. It's up to you, Hawkins. Would you like to continue towards fulfilling your twenty-year obligation to the Garrison, or would you like to be among the members of your Vehicle Team?"

So that was it. Blackmail. Wade would blackmail him into becoming his second-in-command, and in the process would destroy people that he cared about. He thought about the old adage of keeping one's enemies closer than one's friends. This man was the enemy. This man was not to be trusted. This man, the commander realized, needed to be kept within striking distance at all times.

"I would be honored to accept your position," he lied.

Wade looked pleased. "Wonderful. I have two duties to delegate to you, now that you are unofficially my second-in-command. Don't worry, I'll have a ceremony or something to that effect after all of this chaos calms down."

"The duties, Sir." Hawkins was impatient to get out of the room.

"Ah, yes. The first thing you need to do on my behalf is to tell your staff and crew about my decision to ground the Explorer and disband the Vehicle Team. You will do a better job at that than I will."

Internally, the commander winced. He thought it could possibly be the most painful thing he'd ever have to do. "And the second duty?"

Wade's evil grin returned. "Despite the fact that Lenora Stensson is no longer Space Marshal, she is considered a threat and an enemy to the Garrison. I need you to find her and bring her to me, Commander. The threat needs to be neutralized. I'd love to see her dead, but I won't kill her. Instead, I'm going to throw her into the Void."

* * *

"I have to get my VoltCom back," Keith told Lance.

They'd been communicating with the others through Lance's VoltCom. Pidge still had Keith's, as it was necessary to transfer the information to his computer. But now he needed it back. He couldn't say for sure why, but he just knew that he needed it back. He had a bad feeling in his gut.

Lance groaned. He'd known this was coming, and he was afraid. Wade's armed guards from the GP were out in the hallway, keeping their three rooms under constant surveillance, and he knew that once Keith decided to make a move for his VoltCom it would be all-out madness.

"So then, what's the plan, Chief?"

Keith shrugged. "I don't know yet. We'll set up a three-way conversation with Pidge and Allura, and we'll figure out a diversion tactic. But it's obvious that I need it back." He shot his second-in-command an almost pitiable look. "Lance, I have a bad feeling. I just...I don't know why, but I feel like this Wade character is going to do something terrible with the lions. Particularly Black."

"Well, not for nothin', but your hunches have been known to be right before."

The captain nodded. He looked so sad and so serious that Lance couldn't help but feel bad for him. It was probably the first time in the eleven years they'd known each other that he couldn't tease or pick on his friend. "I know. Why do you think I'm so afraid, Moody? I feel like there's a black hole inside me."

"I believe you." Lance moved towards the door and looked out the peep hole. Sure enough, the hallway was still lined with armed guards, and Carl Scroggins in particular was positioned directly across from their door. The Red Lion pilot had no doubt that the head guard wouldn't hesitate to shoot if he even cracked the door open. "So what do you suggest, Chief?"

Keith grinned. "Have we not out-maneuvered worse than this over the course of our careers? Don't you remember getting out of that prison cell on Doom? Here we have nice windows that open in each room."

"Are you thinking of climbing out the window and scaling the wall?"

The captain laughed. "Hardly. I'm thinking we all open our windows to pass my VoltCom back."

"You know what? That's so simple and stupid, we just might get away with it."

* * *

Learning about Wade's rise to power as Sky Marshal - and his decision to disband Voltron and ground the Explorer - obviously affected the entire Vehicle Team. Tears flowed, and not just from the females. Everyone was distraught.

"I wish I didn't have to tell you this," Commander Hawkins muttered, shaking his head. "This Wade character...he's lost his mind. He's grounding the Explorer, he's disbanding us, he removed the High Council." He exhaled angrily. "He even had the Space Marshal ousted from her position."

Captain Newley's face betrayed no emotion - he was cut from the same cloth as the commander and had learned to use the mask of stoicism - but his eyes told a different story. He was furious. He had been recalled to the Garrison once during the Explorer's mission, and it was only after Emperor Zeppo's fall from power that he had argued his way back onto the stellar ship. Hawkins knew that his old friend had no desire to leave the ship a second time, especially not when the reasoning was so ridiculous.

He heard Jeff inhale angrily, and he turned his head from his oldest friend to the captain of the Vehicle Team. "I know, Jeff. I know."

"You _don't _know!" Jeff shrieked, throwing his hands in the air. "Sir, this team means everything to us. _Everything! _It's friends, it's family, it's a paycheck and our career! Sir, how could you just go along with this..._freak_...and ground the Explorer?"

Had it been a few years ago - heck, even a few _months _ago - the commander would have had no problem ramming his fist into the Voltron captain's face for his outburst. Now, though, he felt nothing but sympathy and compassion for the team, and disgust towards the new Sky Marshal. His crew members were good, hard-working people who had sacrificed so much for their home planets, Earth especially. They didn't deserve this ending. "I agree, Jeff. This is the most horrific thing I've ever had to do."

"So then _why _are you putting up with it? You should tell that jerk where to go!" Jeff Aki had always been prone to losing his temper, and his hot-headedness on this occasion surprised no one. Gently, Lisa grabbed his arm and stroked it soothingly.

"Jeff, it's not the commander's fault," she reminded him gently. "He has no choice but to go along with the situation."

Hawkins nodded. "Lisa's right, Jeff. I have no other choice. I _have _to do what he says. He..." He swallowed, almost unable to complete the thought. "He wants Lenora dead. He wants me to bring her to him so he can throw her into the Void. And if she gets killed in the process, well, so much the better for him."

He stared out at his Voltron Force. They looked like they were in shock. Sniffling, Ginger wiped the tears out of her eyes. "You won't do that, though, Sir. You won't, right?"

"Ginger," he replied firmly, "I will be _damned _if I bring her to him."

No one said anything after his statement. There was silence for a long time. The crew and Voltron Force members exchanged silent glances; it was almost as though they were afraid to speak. Finally, Cliff cleared his voice. "What would you advise us to do, Sir?"

A sigh. A long, sad sigh. "Scramble. Don't let Wade or his minions find any of you. I'm sure you'll all be hauled in for questioning, and I'd like for you to escape that. Find a place to stay, a new place to live. Find a life outside of the Garrison."

"That's easier said than done, Sir," Wolo spoke up carefully.

"I know it is, Wolo. I know it is. But for now we have to go with the flow and accommodate this crazy man. I'd rather see you all scattered and left alone than being tormented by Wade's questioning. Believe me, he's the type of tyrant who will resort to torment and other unusual tactics to obtain whatever it is that he wants."

The Air Team member nodded solemnly.

"So..." Jeff began unsurely, "we take off. We hide. Or we go home. But whatever it is, we stay away from the Garrison."

"Yes."

"What are _you _going to do?"

"I'm going to stay on as Wade's second. I'm going to amass intelligence to use against him. And I'm going to restore your friend to her status as Space Marshal." He shrugged. "But before I do any of that, I'm going to clean out my personal quarters on the Explorer."

It was hard for him to turn his back on them, but he had to do it.

Inside of his quarters, the commander began to pack up the things that meant the most to him. The bedding could stay. The furniture, the desk, the books - they could all stay, too. The only things that mattered were the old photos of his parents and his uncle, the liquor in his infamous liquor cabinet, and his letters from Lenora.

As he gathered a box to throw those items in, he picked up the stack of letters. Flipping them around, he noticed that she'd written her return address on the back of the envelopes. Memorizing the address, he threw the letters in the box and headed off the Explorer.

Before he was even off the grounded ship, he knew what he was going to do. He was going to call Carlo, his uncle's personal driver, to bring him back to his uncle's triplex on Fifth Avenue. Once he settled things there, he would go to Lenora's studio and get her. He didn't care how long he had to wait around for her; he wasn't leaving the apartment complex without her. Only then, when he knew she was safe, would he figure out how to proceed with Wade.

* * *

It had been easy enough to pass the VoltCom back.

They waited until it was dark. The plan was to shut off all of the lights in the rooms, then open the windows and slide Keith's VoltCom over until it was back with its rightful owner. Lance laughed over the fact that they actually pulled it off without a hitch. They never got that lucky. _Never_.

"Well," he smirked to Keith as the Voltron captain fastened the VoltCom back around his wrist, "that was uneventful. How did we get lucky enough to pull this off?"

Keith shrugged. "Chalk it up to the dark and the windows."

"Ah." Lance sat back down on the hard-as-a-brick mattress. He was going crazy in the room; they hadn't left since they were escorted back after the fiasco at the ceremony, and the idea that there was a constant flux of armed guards outside their doors was beginning to grate on their nerves. "So what do we do now, Keith? We can't sit here and wait for Wade to let us out. By the time he does, he might have dismantled the lions. Who knows what that nut job will do?"

"I agree." Keith solemnly crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes. "Lance, I need you to do me a favor. Actually, a string of favors."

"Okay. What are they?"

Keith's heart grew heavy. "I need you to lead the team in my absence, however long that might be."

Lance wanted to shriek out, but he knew that would raise a red flag for the guards outside. "Um...what are you talking about, Chief? What do you mean, in your absence? Where do you plan on going?"

"I've been thinking about this all day." The dark-haired captain looked somber. "Wade...like I said earlier, I think he's going to do something terrible with the lions. I don't _know _what he's going to do with them, but I have to stop it."

"I think you're overthinking everything." Lance began to pace in the small room. This was a nightmare, and it was only getting worse by the minute. "What makes you think you're going anywhere, anyway?"

"Lance...if I don't go on my own, there'll be terrible consequences. Think about it for a moment. If we all go rogue, then Arus will be booted from the Alliance. There could be disastrous consequences from that, especially if there's no Voltron and no one willing to come to our aid. If you think about it, the only ones who really have our back are our friends on Pollux, and that poor planet is still in the process of rebuilding itself." He shook his head. "I saw how obsessive Wade was over the lions, but particularly over Black. I think, in the best interest of the princess, I should check this out on my own."

His friend wanted to vomit from nervousness. "Okay, so just to humor you, how are you gonna get out of here with Scroggins and Co. out in the hallway? I mean, even if you made a break for it out the window, what am I gonna say to the guards so they don't shoot me?"

"I'll get back to that in a second." He almost looked teary-eyed. "Lance, I need you to tell Allura that I'm sorry. Tell her that I'm doing this for Arus. For _her._" He thought about how he had been so excited to tell her how he felt about her after the ceremony was over. That would never happen now. "Please, tell her how sorry I am."

"Okay. Fine."

"And Lance, I want you to know that I am so, _so _sorry for what I'm about to do."

The smarmy pilot looked surprised. "Why? What are you about to do now?"

Without warning, Keith punched his second-in-command in the face, effectively rendering him unconscious, before slipping out the open window and heading off into the dark cover of the night.

* * *

Christiane knew he was coming.

She was a seer, after all; she could feel things. She knew some things from her visions, but more often than not, she felt things. Especially when it came to him. He was the one who ran through her veins like blood.

The feeling grew stronger and stronger until she was nearly vibrating with it. Then, just as she thought she might go insane from it, she heard the knock at her door, and suddenly everything was calm. Tying back her long blue-black hair in a ponytail, she swallowed nervously before opening it.

"Jeff."

The Air Team captain glanced over her, head to toe, drinking in her beauty with his deep eyes. It had been a long time since he'd last seen her. "Chris," he finally murmured in reply, "it's been a bad day."

"I know." She clasped her arms around his neck in an embrace, trying not to be _too _intimate with him. He was romantically involved with Lisa, and despite what her visions told her, she wouldn't step in the middle of that. She would not allow herself to become a homewrecker.

She would not do that to another woman, no matter how much she wanted her boyfriend. Better to play it cool. Just like always. "Where's your girlfriend, Aki?"

"She went to Morgan's house with Ginger and Cinda. I wanted to make sure they were all okay." He sighed, drinking in her scent. Christiane smelled good, even without perfume or fancy body wash. It was so different from Lisa, who smelled nice, but in a different way. "And then I came here to make sure that _you _were okay. I _did _make a promise to look after you, after all."

"Then come on in. I'll fix you something to eat."

"Sounds good." He stepped into her small studio apartment and immediately knew he would be spending the night. And he also knew that Lisa was not going to like it.

* * *

When he heard the knock at the door, Aidan was relieved. He had been waiting to hear back from his girlfriend all day, and so far, nothing. He was beginning to worry that maybe she'd gone back to the Garrison by herself without telling him first. But now she was home and he could stop worrying.

It wasn't Lenora at the door. It was Cliff.

"Mate," the Land Team captain greeted his best friend brusquely, "I hope you're going to tell me that you've got something decent to drink in this place. I am in definite need of a good buzz right now."

"Hello to you too, Mate." Aidan stepped aside and let his old Academy roommate in. "What are you doing here? I didn't know that you guys were docking, especially not after the victory celebration."

"About that. Can you tell me exactly what happened?"

"Ugh." Aidan rubbed his temples as he pulled a bottle of Ciroc vodka out of his freezer. "It was a nightmare. That crazy freak Colonel Wade banned Len from going to the ceremony, even though _she _was the one who arranged it and took care of all the details. Then the Voltron lions went crazy, and she got blamed for everything. It's a nightmare." He poured two shotglasses, one for himself and one for Cliff, and they knocked them back quickly. "I guess the High Council voted to throw Len out of her position as Space Marshal and vote Wade in, and the Voltron Force is under house arrest."

"Yeah?" Cliff grabbed the bottle and poured himself another shot. "Apparently, this Wade _freak_, as you so accurately put it, also grounded the Explorer, disbanded the Vehicle Team, and promoted Commander Hawkins to second-in-command."

"You've gotta be kidding me." Aidan poured himself another shot as well.

"Nope."

"Seven hells, man."

Cliff was about to tell Aidan about how Wade wanted Lenora. He figured that since his best Mate was the girl's boyfriend, he deserved to know that much. But he hadn't had anything to drink in such a long time, and the mere two shots of vodka were already clouding his brain. It made him foggy, and it made him forget what he was supposed to tell Aidan.

"Oh, Jack," Aidan chided, "are you turning into a lightweight on me?"

"Shut up, Dalloway."

They began laughing. They laughed so hard that Aidan didn't hear his phone ringing.

* * *

Sven exhaled slowly as he lined up in his Polluxian cruiser outside the space station. The magnetic storm was finally dissipating, but only the largest ships had been allowed to pass through. The gravitational pull would crush any of the smaller ships, his included.

Luckily, he had once been one of the best navigators at Galaxy Garrison. He knew math and he knew flight paths better than anyone he knew. Well, _almost _anyone. Morgan Feld had been his main competition and his best study partner in one neat little package. And it didn't hurt that she had been Lenora's best friend and roommate.

The Norwegian grew impatient. All he wanted to do was get back to Earth, but getting clearance to travel from the space station was going so slowly. It was maddening and frustrating. Couldn't they see how much of a rush he was in? Didn't they know that he hadn't seen his fiancée in six years and was desperate to be with her again?

Apparently, they did not.

He continued to wait in line, silently cursing out the monitors, the storm, and everything that was keeping him apart from his _elskede._

* * *

She was a little annoyed that Aidan hadn't picked up his phone.

It had taken forever for Lenora's phone to charge. She cursed her cheap phone; she really needed to buy a new one, but being one of Graham's lieutenants hadn't exactly paid much. Then, with a jolt, she remembered that she wasn't a lieutenant anymore. She was the Space Marshal.

And she wasn't _that _anymore, either.

_Great_, she thought sarcastically, sinking down to her knees on the floor of her studio apartment. _This is where I hit rock bottom. I'm twenty-seven and unemployed. I've lost my mother, my father, and my fiancé. I have a lousy phone and can't afford to buy another one. I live in a crummy studio apartment off campus. And now my boyfriend won't even pick up my phone call._

She felt like she might lay herself down and die when she heard an insistent, furious knock on the door.

_Seven hells. I can't even wallow in my depression in peace._

Smoothing her hair and checking her reflection in the mirror to make sure she looked presentable, Lenora stood up and unlocked the door. She didn't bother to look through the peephole before opening it up.

Commander Hawkins stood in the hallway, just over the threshold of her apartment.

Her mouth dropped open as her chocolate-brown eyes met his dark ones. "Gods," she choked out, "what are you doing here, Sir?"

"It's nice to see you too, Lenora. May I come in?"

"Oh. Of course." She stood aside to let the commander into her apartment. He stepped in quickly and closed the door, locking it behind him. He then faced her again, and as he looked at her, something within him..._broke. _His reserve cracked, and he looked so relieved, the harsh look on his face melting away.

She didn't know what was happening. She only knew that she had to be in his arms as soon as possible, if only to ease the fear that was so obviously running through his veins. "Commander, I'm okay. I promise."

"Jon."

"Oh, for the love of...stop it, would you?" But her teasing didn't keep her from locking her arms around his waist, or from laying her head against his chest. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. She'd forgotten just how good he smelled.

"Lenora, you need to pack your bag."

She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Hmm?"

"I need to get you out of here."

"Oh. Um...okay. Would you mind telling me what this is all about?"

"Just pack a bag, and do it quickly. Take everything that's important to you - you won't be back here again." He knelt down to pick up her phone from the floor, and turned it off before sliding it into his pocket. "And don't expect to be using this again. I mean it. You can't contact _anyone_. Your life depends on it."

"Now you're scaring me."

"Good. I'm dead serious." He watched over her as she grabbed an overnight bag and began cramming it full of clothes, undergarments, and toiletries. Much like him, she didn't have much in terms of possessions that meant anything. He noted some photos of two people who looked like they could have been her parents, and one photo of her in the Academy cadet uniform with a similarly-dressed, dark-haired boy. "I'll explain everything when we get home."

She zipped up the bag and threw it over her shoulder. "Home?"

"Yes. We're going back to the triplex."

"Ooh." She grinned mischievously. "Fifth Avenue, here I come."

He knew he should have kept his emotions in check better, but he couldn't help it. It felt good to tell her that they were going home, and he was excited to have her under his roof. He just didn't know how he was going to feel when he told her everything he knew about Wade.

* * *

They had been together for hours, making small talk and taking random shots of vodka. Jeff couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so comfortable with a woman. He loved Lisa, sure, but he'd never felt as open and honest with her. Not the way he was with Christiane.

He shouldn't have had his arm around her shoulder, and he shouldn't have let her lean in against his chest, but after they finished the small bottle of Ciroc in her freezer, neither of them could be held accountable for their actions. They did try to remain honorable, though. Lisa was the proverbial elephant in the room.

"So," Christiane changed the topic again, "what made the Garrison put you in the same dorm room as my brother? What happened in your lifetime that made them think you two would be a good fit?"

Jeff swallowed. He'd never told anyone the story, not even Keith. He figured that his roommate had experienced enough tragedy, and besides, the death of Keith's parents was even bigger than the drama in Jeff's past. "It all started twenty-seven years ago when I was born in Japan on a military base. To a sweet Japanese woman and a not-so-sweet American military hotshot."

"Ah."

"I grew up on military bases. I saw a lot of things that no child ever should have seen." A dark look washed over his face. "The men there - they were awful. Not all of them, but a lot of them. They abused their wives. Berated them. Cheated on them. Hurt them."

"What did your father do to your mother?"

He inhaled painfully. "All of the above. But the night he broke her arm, that was when we left."

"Oh, Gods."

"Yeah. Fortunately, we were back in the States at the time. My mother took me in the middle of the night. We were living in Georgia at the time, right outside of Fort Benning, and we owned a house outside of the base. My mother had saved up enough money for two bus tickets to New York. That's how we ended up here."

Christiane rubbed the back of his neck, and he felt tingles run down his spine. That was not good. No matter how much he loved Lisa, her touch never brought tingles. "That's awful."

"It was." He couldn't believe he was telling this story. It was nearly twenty years of his history off his chest. He didn't know if she was to blame, or if it was the Ciroc. "We had no money, and she and I settled in the projects. You can imagine how tough that was for me, a shy, nervous half-Japanese boy in a classroom full of kids who didn't look like me and weren't as smart as me. I spent my childhood getting beat up. I was always on edge, ready to defend myself, ready for the first verbal or physical blow." His voice softened. "So when the opportunity came around for me to attend the Space Academy, I jumped at the chance."

"Oh, Jeff. I'm sorry." Christiane folded her arms around him to comfort him. "When I was fifteen, my seventeen-year-old foster brother hit me. He hit me hard enough to dislocate my shoulder and fracture my collarbone."

"Why would he do that?"

"'Cuz I wouldn't sleep with him."

"Oh, God." Jeff wrapped his arms around her and said nothing. What was left to say? The two of them could be sorry all they wanted, but it wouldn't change their pasts. They were lucky that they were both so strong. Their pasts might have broken a weaker person.

They stayed like that for a long time until Jeff heard a little snore. Christiane had fallen asleep against him.

_What the...?_

After a few minutes of listening to her even breathing, he gently picked her up and carried her over to her bed. He tucked her in under the comforter, then walked back to the couch. He _was _going to fall asleep on her couch - that was the original plan, anyway - but after a moment of debate, he decided against it. He stood back up and walked over to the other side of her bed, where he eased himself onto the mattress and rolled next to her. Her body was comfortable against his, and he tried not to think about his girlfriend as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

He shouldn't have known how to break in, but he did anyway. He supposed that that was where his Academy training and practice against the Doom empire had come in handy.

And everybody thought that _Lance _was the sneaky one.

Once he was inside of the main Garrison lab, Keith stealthily activated his VoltCom. He had shut off the communicator portion for various reasons. Gods, he hoped Lance would forgive him later on for punching him. He was sure he'd given his friend a black eye and a concussion. But it had to be that way. Lance would need an alibi when he told the GP guards that he had no idea where Keith went, and a good shiner was better than any story he could give them.

The VoltCom started to beep. Finally, he could track down the lions and see if he could break them out.

It didn't take long - honestly, there were very few spaces inside the building that could accommodate the huge machines - and soon his VoltCom was beeping maniacally. With one well-placed kick to the control panel next to the door, Keith gained access to the storage facility that was housing the lions.

They were all there, seated atop huge pedestals, with cables holding them in place. Yellow. Green. Red. Blue. He searched for keys, only to come up empty.

The glaring omission suddenly hit him in the face. Black. Black wasn't there. Black was _gone. _

He _knew _it.


	5. House of the Rising Sun

_Author's Note__: Happy New Year! I hope everybody had a great holiday season and has some rockin' new resolutions. I know I do._

_So this is the last part in this mini-story. I have to admit, it was a bit longer than I had originally intended - but then again, I always say that these characters dictate the story for me. Thanks for hanging around for my version of what REALLY should have happened on the night the lions went crazy. I hope you've enjoyed it, and I hope I'll see you around in the new year!_

_Thank you to everyone who's wished me a speedy recovery. I hope so, too._

_To Emie Mac - I love Jon, too, and I think we __all__ know how much he loves Len. And you know I love Jeff - oh, he is so torn between Chris & Lisa! I wonder who he'll choose? :P_

_To Mer3Girl - Silly Aidan, he actually __had__ the ring and didn't seal the deal. Dummy. As for Christiane and the "Gods" statement, I theorize that it doesn't have so much to do with one's personal religion, it has more to do with the fact that there are students from many different planets (and therefore religions) at the Academy and within the Alliance. Why stop at one God?_

_To Sally On - You know that Keith, being the team leader, would take on all of the blame himself, and leave Lance with an alibi to boot. You're right, I don't envy his position of comforting Allura. It won't be pretty._

_To Wade Wells - I'm super glad you're enjoying it! I just feel bad for Lance when he wakes up. I'm going to quote Hunk and Pidge from the Devil's Due Comics for that one: "Lance, what happened to your face? You look like you got hit by a truck, man."_

_**Part 5: "House of the Rising Sun" by The Animals**_

* * *

When Jon awoke the following morning, the first thing he did was check the time. 0700 hours. He'd only been asleep for forty minutes. Well, that would have to be good enough. He'd worked longer than twenty hours on less sleep than that.

He'd fallen asleep at his desk in the master bedroom, wearing a pair of old, broken-in jeans. No shirt, no shoes. Knowing that Lenora was in his triplex, he decided to throw on a black undershirt and a pair of leather loafers. _It might be easier if I bought pajamas, _he thought, and moved towards the door to go down to the kitchen for coffee.

He wasn't expecting the aroma that hit him in the face once he opened the door. Was she cooking _breakfast_?

He traveled down two flights of stairs to the kitchen, where he found her in front of the stove. She had a carton of eggs and a link of sausage on the counter next to her. She was wearing black Lululemon yoga pants with a lilac tank top and black flip-flops. For some reason, it pleased him that she had black polish on her toenails in addition to her fingernails. "Good morning, Hawkins."

"Well. Good morning, Lenora. How did you sleep?"

"Very well, thank you. How about yourself?"

"I dozed off at twenty after six. It was a good nap."

"Yeah, _hardly_," she cracked. "I hope you like eggs and chorizo. And coffee. I figured it was the least I could do." She scooped a mound of the mixture onto a plate, which she brought over to him with a sincere look on her face. "I hope you like it." She reached over towards the mug filled with black coffee on the kitchen island.

"That food delivery makes everything easier." He grinned. "And after everything that Sammy's cooked on the Explorer, I don't think there's anything you can make me that would taste bad."

"Hmm. I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or not."

Jon laughed. "Darling, trust me - it's a compliment."

She raised an eyebrow. _"Darling? _Oh, it's _Darling_, now?"

He leaned into her. "I could call you lots of other things, Lenora. But I like you. Probably too much for my own good. _Darling _is nice and benign. Let's leave it at that, shall we?" His eyes twinkled mischievously, and Lenora fought against her knees going weak as he flirted with her. "Unless, of course, you'd like for me to call you what _really _comes to mind."

She decided to call his bluff. "Maybe you should, Hawkins." She was acutely - _painfully _- aware of how close their bodies were. There was hardly space between them. She stared up at him defiantly, almost daring him to make a move.

"I will - once you start calling me Jon." It took everything in him not to embrace her. He wanted to kiss those lips. He wanted to bite them. Forget about breakfast. He wanted to taste _her_.

"Well, seeing as how I now have _no _rank..." Her voice trailed off, and she backed away, much to Jon's dismay _and_ relief. "Blast it. How did I go from Space Marshal to zero?"

"Wade," he answered simply.

Lenora turned back to the stove, staring at the heap of scrambled eggs and chorizo still in the pan. "This wasn't how everything was supposed to turn out," she muttered, and her tone of voice was so sad that Jon's heart ached for her. "I keep thinking about everything I've lost, and how it's even possible that life can keep taking even more away from me. After my father...and my mother...and..."

She meant to say _Sven_, but a sob lodged in her throat and silenced her. As she stood there, choking on her old fiancé's name, she wrapped her arms around her torso and dropped her head. When she found her voice again, she mumbled, "Now I'm out of a job. Now I can't even go home."

"Oh, Lenora." Suddenly unaware of what he was doing, he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. In her flip-flops, she was much shorter than he was, and he had to bow his head for his chin to touch the top of her head. "It's all right. You're welcome to stay here as long as you'd like. You can call the triplex your home. Besides, weren't you the one who joked about me needing a roommate?"

Slowly, without a sound or even looking back at him, she brought her hands up to his muscular forearms and grabbed him as though she might fall - or fall apart - if she let go. He felt her body shaking, and pulled her in as closely as he could. He would be her rock if he had to. Her rock, her anchor, her roommate.

He wanted to be _more _than her roommate, but for now, he would take what he could get.

"Thank you, Hawkins. For this. For everything. For saving my life."

"There's no need to thank me. It's my pleasure. I mean that."

"That's what I was afraid of." She bit her lip. "Hawkins, you can't fall for me. People get hurt because of me. Only bad things happen to the people who care about me." She exhaled. "I'm afraid that you'll get punished for hiding me out, and I honestly don't know what I would do if something bad happened to you." She paused, dropping her head to plant a kiss on one of his hands. "That scares me more than anything else. More than being killed, more than being thrown in the Void, I fear something terrible happening to you."

He blinked. _She must love me deep down. _Without words, he spun her around so that they were facing each other and finally embraced her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her cheek against his chest. "Please, Hawkins. I'm not worth it."

He wanted to tell her that, yes, she _was_ worth it. That she meant everything to him. That he'd been in love with her for the last two years - from the moment he met her. But he was afraid that she'd let go if he opened his mouth. So he kept his lips together, using them only to place a kiss on the top of her head - the first time his lips had ever touched her.

* * *

_Lisa's gonna kill me._

The thought ran through Jeff's head before he even opened his eyes. He remembered where he was. He remembered who was in bed next to him. And then he remembered how much his girlfriend wouldn't like any part of this arrangement.

She stirred in bed next to him, stretching her arms over her head. "Mornin', Jeff," her voice crackled, still thick with sleep. "I'd love for you to stay, but I think you'd better head over to Morgan's house. Your girlfriend's gonna be suspicious."

"Yeah, you're right about that," he mumbled, wiping the sleep out of his eyes. "I don't think Lisa will be too happy if she knows I spent the night in bed next to you." Grabbing the back of her head, he placed a hard kiss on Christiane's forehead. "Thanks for listening to me last night, Baby Girl. I appreciate it."

He rolled out of bed and slid back into his boots. He had slept in his uniform, and it was damp with sweat and ripe with his scent. He hated himself. He was dating Lisa. He was in love with _Lisa_, for crying out loud. He should _not _have been feeling these sorts of emotions for Keith's sister. Keith's _sister._

He did anyway.

Once he was out of Christiane's apartment, he headed for the subway. He had to make it back to Morgan's house. Hopefully, Lisa would still be asleep, and would never realize when she woke that her boyfriend had been out all night.

* * *

After receiving the call from Sky Marshal Wade to escort the Voltron Force to his office, Carl Scroggins opened the door to Lance's and Keith's room. He thought it was odd that the room had been so silent for the entire evening. It wasn't odd that Allura's room had been quiet - after all, she was the only one in there - but he did find it strange for the room housing the Voltron captain and second-in-command to sound so lifeless. Those two had supposedly been best friends.

He was shocked when he found the second-in-command passed out on the floor.

"Soldier," he began, shaking the fallen officer awake, "are you all right?"

Lance opened his eyes and groaned. He felt like he'd been run over by a truck. "Um...I'm alive, if that's what you're asking. Hey, wait a second. _What _are you asking?"

"Eh...maybe he should see a doctor," Scroggins muttered to himself. "Soldier, do you know where your partner is? Your friend? Voltron's captain?"

Lance looked around the room. Sure enough, Keith was gone, and why couldn't he remember anything? And why did his _face _hurt so much? His jaw, his eye...everything ached. Bringing his hands up to his face, he could feel significant swelling on the left side.

Uh-oh.

"No, I have no idea where he is," he finally answered, gently tapping the swollen side of his face, "but I'm pretty sure he had something to do with this."

Scroggins shot him a quick nod. "Very well. I'll have _you _explain that to Sky Marshal Wade yourself." He grasped Lance's shoulders and ushered him out of the room and into the hallway, where Allura, Pidge, and Hunk were flanked by guards.

Hunk took one look at him and sucked in a sharp breath. "Ow. That looks like it hurts."

"Hey Lance," Pidge cracked, "does your face hurt? 'Cuz it's killing _me_."

"Don't make me kill you, Shorty," Lance grumbled.

"Geez. No need to be so..._moody_."

Allura's face turned from Lance to Scroggins, who was locking the door behind them. "Keith. Where's Keith?" she asked nervously, her emerald eyes filled with fear. "Why isn't he here, Lance?"

Scroggins answered for him. "I believe he's gone rogue, Princess Allura. If you take a look at Sargeant McClain's face, that speaks volumes enough."

The princess fought the urge to vomit as they were escorted to Wade's office. For some reason, she knew with certainty that her life was about to take the biggest downhill tumble since the Zarkonian War began.

* * *

Morgan was cooking breakfast for everyone when she heard the sharp rapping at the front door. She was the only one awake, and she certainly wasn't expecting anyone. Looking through the side window, she saw Jeff on her doorstep, looking exhausted and guilty.

She opened the door for him. "Amigo," she greeted him quietly. "I'm glad you made it." She smirked at him. "You didn't close the deal with Chris, did you?"

"Don't be silly, Morganza." Jeff let himself into the house and sat down at the breakfast bar in the remodeled kitchen. "I'm dating Lisa. If I want to close the deal, I can do that with her."

She snorted. "Sure you can."

"Shut up."

Morgan sighed. "So," she began, changing the subject as she flipped pancakes on the griddle, "Chris knows just as much as we do about the whole celebration fiasco. At least, she did when I talked to her. Has she learned anything since then?"

Jeff opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly Lisa was in front of them, dressed in an oversized T-shirt she'd borrowed from Morgan. "Jeff," she cried out, throwing her arms around his neck, "where were you last night? When I went to bed, you _still _hadn't come back here!"

He couldn't think, and all he felt was guilt. Luckily, Morgan - his best friend in the entire universe - jumped to his aid. "He came back way late last night, Lis," she lied, opening the oven to check on the maple-cured bacon. "He ended up sleeping on the couch in the living room. I woke him up when I came down here this morning to make breakfast for everyone."

Genius. Morgan was an evil genius. And was she making _maple-cured bacon_? He suddenly wished he had dated her all throughout the Academy instead of letting Keith have the honors.

Lisa nodded. "Okay," she said finally, stretching her arms overhead. Then, glancing in Jeff's direction, she added, "I'll be looking for a one-bedroom apartment today. For the both of us. I thought maybe you'd like to help."

"Actually," Morgan cut in, coming to his rescue once again, "I already asked my Amigo here if he wanted to move in with David and me. He told me he'd be glad to stay in one of my guest rooms." She shrugged. "You're welcome to move in too, Lis. This is a four-bedroom house, after all."

Lisa looked stunned for a moment. "Oh, um...thank you for the offer, Morgan. But I'd rather find something on my own. If Jeff is going to stay here, maybe I can convince Ginger to move in with me." She smirked. "After all, it's not like we haven't lived together before."

Morgan nodded. "Sounds like the right thing to do."

Jeff blinked. "Um, yeah."

They stood in silence for a moment, and then Lisa turned to go back upstairs. "I'll just take a shower first, Morgan, and then I'll be back down for breakfast. Okay?"

"Sure thing, Lis."

Once Lisa had disappeared up the stairs, Jeff turned to his best friend. "You, Morganza, are the most evil genius I have ever had the honor and privilege of knowing."

She shot him a deliciously evil grin. "Just don't forget it."

* * *

The Voltron Force - minus their fearless leader - stood in the office across from the desk. Wade was seated, and his second-in-command stood behind him. Pidge recognized the man vaguely as Commander Hawkins of the S.S. Explorer; his brother Chip's commander.

Uh-oh. If the commander of the Explorer was now second-in-command to this lunatic, what did that mean for the Vehicle Team?

"Welcome, Voltron Force." Wade's steely eyes looked them all over. "Carl Scroggins already informed me that your team captain, Keith Kogane, has gone rogue. And from the looks of Sargeant McClain's face, I'd say that's a definite."

"Great." Lance touched the left side of his face again. The swelling was going to take _forever_ to go down.

"I have had my engineers and other tech sargeants look over the lions," Wade continued, ignoring Lance's comment, "and they have found the virus that caused them to go ballistic. This is not a computer virus that we have on Earth, which only leads me to believe that either you brought it in from Arus yourselves, or it is a virus that was borne in the lions."

There it was. The accusation. Lance was the hot-headed member of the group, but he was too out of sorts from Keith's blow to come up with a sarcastic retort, so Allura spoke up instead. "Sky Marshal Wade, that is a very inflammatory statement, one which I'm sure will not go over well with the other planets in the Galaxy Alliance."

There was a tiny victorious smirk playing at the commander's lips, but since Hawkins was standing behind the Sky Marshal, Wade did not see. "Indeed, this _is _an inflammatory accusation, Princess Allura. Which is why I choose to believe that this is a virus borne from the memory metals that make up the lions. It would be _disastrous _if it was proven that Arus, a member of the Galaxy Alliance, had purposely brought this virus to Earth."

Slick. They had to give it to him, this man was slick. And smart. And pure evil. Allura could see that there was no argument she could make in Voltron's defense. She could only limit the damage that Wade was about to do. "In which case, how would you like to proceed?"

Tapping his fingers together, Wade shot her a monstrously evil grin. "I have already disbanded the Voltron Vehicle Team. I believe that disbanding the Voltron Lion Force as well is in the best interests of all planets in the universe, whether they are members of the Galaxy Alliance or not."

"But Voltron's the defender of the universe! You can't do that!" Hunk screeched hotly.

"I can and I will." Wade leaned back in his chair. "And because I am feeling generous, I choose to relinquish four of the lions back to you to be taken home to Arus. I will retain custody of Black Lion and the five keys." He sneered at the engineer. "This way, Princess Allura can have her lions back, and I will be sure that Lion Voltron cannot be formed. In addition, my tech sargeants will be able to study Black Lion and determine the cause of this virus."

"I don't like it," Pidge squeaked.

"I don't either, Tech Sargeant Stoker. But this is the fairest, most honorable option I can offer." Wade shot the systems analyst a dirty look. "I _could_ keep all of the lions and their respective keys, but I have enough respect for Princess Allura not to do that."

Respect? He called this _respect_? Allura was devastated, but remained strong and kept her face impassive. "I accept your terms, Sky Marshal," she told him coolly. Really, she had no other choice. If Red, Green, Yellow and Blue were on Arus, then at least she knew they weren't with Wade. And with Keith gone, she knew it was only a matter of time before Black resurfaced. Keith would die before he let Wade's..._creeps_...dismantle Black Lion.

Hawkins looked relieved, and Wade shot her that evil grin again. "Excellent. I am so glad you're being sensible about this, Princess Allura. It makes the rest of my news that much easier to announce." He looked over Lance, Pidge, and Hunk. "I would like to offer you three staff positions at the Space Academy. Seeing as how your positions as Voltron pilots have been terminated, I'd like to hire the three of you. Tech Sargeant Stoker, your knowledge in systems analysis is highly advanced, and we all know that Tech Sargeant Garrett's engineering skills are simply unparallelled. As for you, Sargeant McClain, I do remember reading in your classified file that you specialized in both piloting _and _defense during your stint at the Academy. I'm sure I can make room for you somewhere in either of those departments."

At the last statement, Hawkins cleared his throat. "Sky Marshal," he cut in gruffly, "I'm sure you have overwhelmed these pilots with all of this information. Let me escort them back to their rooms to think for a while. I'm sure you'll agree that they need some time to absorb this information before they can give you their informed decision."

Wade nodded. "Yes, I agree. Hawkins, see them to their rooms."

The princess bowed stiffly to the Sky Marshal, the blank mask still painted over her face, while her remaining friends gave him equally-impassive nods. Hawkins gently took Allura's elbow and escorted her out of the office, with the three now-deposed pilots following suit.

The walk through the Garrison HQ was deathly quiet. Allura held back tears of loss and despair as she clung to the commander's elbow. She couldn't see anything in front of her and had no idea what the commander actually looked like. She was grateful for his presence, though. She might have collapsed to the ground without his support.

Once they neared their building - it may as well have been the Galactic Prison - Hawkins cleared his throat. "Tech Sargeant Stoker?"

Pidge looked at Hunk and Lance nervously. "Yes, Sir?"

He paused carefully. "I wanted to let you know that your brother is safe. He's returned to your home planet of Balto."

Pidge exhaled, relieved. "Are you sure?"

"Very. I've instructed all of my now-deposed Vehicle Team members to get as far away from here as possible. I _would _advise the three of you to do the same, but I think there may be some merit to you working for the Garrison. I believe there is an old adage about keeping one's friends close, but one's enemies closer."

Lance nodded darkly in understanding. That was something Keith would have said, too. "I plan on taking the job Wade offered," he informed them. "I'd like to escort Allura back to Arus, and then I'll work for Wade. For _now_, anyway."

Hawkins nodded, pleased to have an ally working behind the scenes with him. "Stoker? Garrett? What do you say? I can't pull off an inside job of this magnitude by myself." He shot them a mischievous grin, and without a doubt, Allura knew that Pidge and Hunk would say yes. They would stay on Earth, working for the Garrison, while she returned to Arus.

"I'm in," Hunk answered quickly.

"Me too, especially now that I know that Chip is safe on Balto," Pidge added.

It was settled. Hawkins would have three allies working behind the scenes with him at the Garrison. He also had one ally on Arus in Princess Allura. And one ally at large in Keith Kogane.

They weren't sure exactly why Wade wanted to take over the entire Alliance, but they _were_ sure that they were going to stop him.

* * *

Aidan was frantic.

He hadn't heard from his girlfriend. The last message he'd gotten from her said that she'd charged her phone, there was no message from the Garrison saying that she'd been fired, and she was heading over to HQ to track down answers. After that, there was nothing. He'd tried calling her, but her phone didn't even ring - every time, it went straight to message. _Then _he'd dragged his Mate over to her apartment in the Valley to see if she was still there. She was not.

He feared the worst.

"Mate! Take it easy," Cliff reassured him. The now-deposed Land Team captain had spent the night sleeping on Aidan's couch. "Len's a tough girl. If Wade _did _manage to capture her, she can fend for herself."

"That's just it. I don't _want _her to fend for herself." Aidan raked his fingers maniacally through his long blond hair. "I'm her boyfriend, Cliff. I'm supposed to protect her, and I didn't." He looked like he wanted to cry. "I am the _worst _boyfriend ever."

Cliff felt terrible. For as long as he'd known Aidan - and they had been friends for eleven years, since they were paired as roommates at the Academy - he'd never known him to get worked up over a girl. He had plenty of girls throwing themselves at him, but he never took any of them seriously, never needed a single one of them longer than a night or two. Lenora had been the first girl Cliff had ever seen his friend date seriously, and she was definitely the first girl he'd ever bought an engagement ring for. "Mate, try to relax. If you drive yourself crazy, you'll be no good for anyone."

"Shaye."

"What are you talking about now?"

"My Shaye." Aidan shook his head tearfully. "Cliff, I never told anyone, but the reason I ended up at the Space Academy was because my first girlfriend died. It was my fault. Well, that wasn't what the police report said, but it was still my fault."

Cliff's mouth dropped open.

"Morgan and I - we're more alike than you think. Morgan ran with a tough crowd when she was a young teen, and I did, too. I met Shaye at thirteen, and we were inseparable for two years. I mean, _inseparable_." He sniffed, then opened up the drawer that served as his hiding place for a pack of cigarettes. As he lit one and inhaled, he continued, "Shaye's brother was four years older. He had no business inviting a couple of fifteen-year-olds to a frat party, but he did. He wanted to show his little sister the college party experience."

"This can't be going anywhere good." Cliff sat on the couch, listening intently. His Mate had never opened up before.

"Shaye was insecure. She was pretty - she looked a lot like Len, with brown hair and big brown eyes - but because she wasn't blond like the rest of the girls at the party, she felt ugly. She made me promise to stick next to her all night. And I did...until we both got messed-up on weed."

Cliff snorted. "Weed? _You?"_

Aidan shrugged. "It was the only time I ever smoked the stuff. And then I passed out. And I guess..." His voice trailed off as he stared down at the floor. "I guess she did some other stuff. _Stronger _stuff. And she overdosed. My Shaye was dead at fifteen. I thought we were gonna have a whole life together, and I lost her at fifteen."

"Mate, that's _not _your fault."

"Yeah, it is." Aidan took a long drag off his cigarette. "I promised to stick by her. I promised to protect her. And I _didn't_. Just like with Len." He coughed. "Like I said, I am the _worst _boyfriend ever."

As he watched his Mate bury his face in his hands, Cliff realized why he had been stuck on Lenora for so long - he'd been trying to atone for Shaye. Now that he couldn't protect her, Aidan was going crazy. And he wondered how healthy a relationship based on atonement could possibly be, and how long it could possibly last.

* * *

When Sven finally landed on Earth, he felt like his heart was leaping out of his chest. Garrison Island. Home of Galaxy Garrison and the Space Academy. He hadn't been there in six years. And a _lot _had happened to him in six years.

He gained clearance and landed on Garrison Island. Once he stepped foot off his cruiser, it was like he had never left. Everything was still the same. He started down the long footbridge from the island to the mainland. He had to go to the Academy first.

When they graduated, he had been a navigator - not that his title was needed; he'd already been chosen to go to Arus - and Lenora had been a systems analyst with a rank of Tech Sargeant. Computers and systems were her whole life. _I'm just a big computer nerd, _she used to joke. If she had stayed with the Garrison, then she was most likely employed by the Academy. Specifically, the technical department.

He headed there.

He was barely paying attention as he wandered over the footbridge to the mainland. His thoughts were so wrapped up in his _elskede _that he didn't notice things that should have been red flags. For one, he didn't notice how quiet the Garrison and mainland were. They should have both been bustling with people and activity, and instead they seemed dead. For another, he didn't notice how the skies had been cleared and jets had been grounded. There had _always _been air patrols in the skies above Galaxy Garrison. Today, they were just as quiet and dead as the grounds.

Oblivious, he made the trek to the Academy campus in record time. He was older now than he was the last time he was on campus; older and wiser and fitter and faster. He wondered if Lenora would even recognize him when she saw him. He knew that he would recognize _her_, no matter what.

Once on the quad, Sven glanced around at the assortment of buildings that made up the Academy. Each department - navigation, technical/engineering, defense, piloting, relations - was different, and as such had different buildings. The first building he headed towards was the one that housed her department.

The technical/engineering department was harsh and precise. It wasn't, he mused, all that different from the navigation department. The two were linked. They were based on math, science and systems. At the check-in desk, he immediately asked for Lenora.

"Who?" the staff member asked, confused.

"Lenora Stensson," Sven repeated. "Tech Sargeant Lenora Stensson."

The staff member hadn't even been employed for a week and had no clue who he was asking for. "Um...there's no Tech Sargeant Stensson employed here."

Sven felt a chill run through his blood. "Are you sure?" he asked breathlessly. "Are you _sure _there's no Lenora Stensson in this department?"

The staff member nodded vigorously. "Yes. I'm sure. I've never heard of her before."

His mouth dropped open. "Oh...okay," he stammered in shock. Still oblivious, he turned out of the building and, once back on the quad, blindly headed towards navigation. He knew people there. Someone would have to know where Lenora was.

Once at the check-in desk, he asked the older secretary if he could gain an audience with Instructor Bailey. Bailey had once been the department head as well as the instructor of Advanced Navigation. Sven was sure that if he could gain his former instructor's help, it would put him on the right path to find his fiancée.

The secretary shook her head mildly. "I'm sorry to inform you, but Instructor Bailey retired two years ago."

A knot of dread formed quickly in Sven's stomach. "Well...at least you've been around long enough to know when Bailey retired. Tell me, do you know of a Lenora Stensson? I'm looking for her."

"You and everyone else. She's on Sky Marshal Wade's most-wanted list. I wouldn't be surprised if she's skipped town."

He wasn't sure if he wanted to know why. All that mattered was where and how to find her, not why she was on Wade's hit list. "Thank you," he replied, his voice shaking, before he turned to run out the door.

On the quad, he stopped to pull himself together and collect his thoughts. _Why _would the new Sky Marshal be looking for his _elskede_? And, for that matter, where was Space Marshal Graham? And Commander Steele? Sitting down on one of the stone benches, he fought the urge to vomit.

Two students, a guy and a girl, walked by him. They looked like they were eighteen or nineteen years old and deeply in love. They reminded Sven of himself and Lenora when they were that age. Clearing his throat, he called out, "Excuse me. I have a question."

They looked at each other before looking at him. "Sure," the guy replied, repositioning his messenger bag across his chest. Sven recognized the cadet uniforms and the flat-heeled boots that his _elskede _had hated so much. "What's up?"

"Have you heard of a Lenora Stensson before?"

The students both snickered. "Um, _yeah_," the girl answered sarcastically. "Have you not been following the news, man? I'm surprised Wade hasn't killed her yet. In fact, I'd put money on her being dead right now."

Again, his mouth dropped open. Lenora, _dead_? "What news is this? I've only just landed on Earth. I've been helping Planet Pollux to fight the Zarkonian Wars for the past few years."

"Wow, are you one of them?" the guy asked. "One of the Voltron Force?"

"I was." He put emphasis on the word _was_.

"So you haven't heard about what happened to the lions?"

"No." Alarm crept into his voice.

"Dude, the lions went frickin' off-the-rails crazy the other night, and now Captain Kogane has gone rogue, and Wade's got the lions, and the rest of the Voltron Force is under house arrest on Garrison grounds..."

The guy continued to fill him in, but Sven didn't hear him. Jumping off the bench, he vaguely muttered his thanks and took off. Back over the footbridge. Back to Garrison Island.

He had a feeling that he'd find out everything he needed to know there.

* * *

Modoch and Kelly, feeling the need to be with friends and family, had made their way over to the Rackens household for the evening. David had poured scotch for himself and his old classmate, allowing everyone else to fend for themselves. It wasn't as though there was a shortage of alcohol.

"The best part about staying here," Ginger announced from the living room, "is that David and Morgan have the greatest liquor cabinet _ever_. I don't know of any other member of our family who keeps a bottle of Bombay Sapphire on hand."

"I have to admit, it makes my stomach turn," David confessed jokingly, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "I don't understand how you can drink straight gin. And that's saying something, coming from the British guy."

"She's used to it," Cinda laughed, sipping at a glass of white wine. "Aren't you, Lemon Drop?"

"You know," Ginger informed her Miran teammate, "if you were Jeff, I would've punched you for that remark."

"Hey!" Jeff cried out. "Why only _me_?"

Ginger finished her gin in one gulp, then poured herself a refill. "Because you're the only one who's obnoxious about it."

"Geez," Modoch sputtered, one arm around his girlfriend, "I am so out of the loop when it comes to this _Lemon Drop _stuff."

As the group laughed, Lisa put down her own glass of white wine. Toying with Jeff's black curls, she announced to their friends, "So Ginger and I found a one-bedroom apartment today that we're going to share. We found a set of bunk beds in a thrift shop, and we're buying mattresses at a discount furniture shop. We'll be out of here one week from tomorrow."

"_And _Lisa got her old job back," Ginger added. "Remember that thrift-slash-jewelry store on Ninth and 47th? She's gonna be working there again." She shrugged. "Hey, since our positions all got axed, we've gotta do _something _for a paycheck."

"Smart," David responded, holding up his shotglass of Johnny Walker. He was about to say something further when a hard knock came at the door. Rolling his eyes, he walked over to the front door and opened it. He didn't recognize the dark-haired, dark-eyed man standing on the doorstep in a black trench coat. But his guests did.

"Commander!" Ginger cried out, nearly choking on her Bombay. "What are you doing here?"

Wearily, Commander Hawkins stepped into the house and surveyed the crowd. He recognized most of them, as they had been members of his Vehicle Team. "Good evening. I hate to intrude, but I am in dire need of an audience with David and Morgan Rackens."

David raised an eyebrow at him. "And might I ask who you are?"

"Certainly. I am Commander Jonathan James Hawkins, formerly of the Stellar Ship Explorer and the Voltron Vehicle Team, and currently the second-in-command to Sky Marshal Charles Herbert Wade." He shot a purposeful glance at Modoch, Jeff, Lisa, Ginger, and Cinda. "Let me rephrase that: the _reluctant _second-in-command to Sky Marshal Wade. Your guests here can vouch for me."

"I see." David shot a glance at his wife, and she placed her glass of wine down on the coffee table. "Mo, I hate to ask this of you, but would you mind escorting your friends outside to the porch? I'd like to speak to your commander in private."

Modoch cleared his throat. "Of course," he replied, reaching for Kelly's hand. "Come on, guys. Let's go outside for a bit."

Once they had cleared out of the house, David motioned for the commander to sit down on a chair, then sat down next to his wife on the sofa. "I'm genuinely sorry for the intrusion," Hawkins began. "This is not what I wanted to do tonight."

"I'm sure," Morgan replied.

Hawkins sighed. "I want you to know that I'm here because Wade wants to see your friend Lenora dead. He _won't _kill her - that will destroy his reputation before he even gets started - but he will do his best to get rid of her, and he will stop at nothing to imprison her in the Void." His dark, serious gaze darted between them. "I've told my Vehicle Team members to scatter. To scramble. Wade is going to question them to find Lenora, and I don't want any of them implicated. That being said, I need for the both of you - as well as Kelly Asimov and Aidan Dalloway - to make yourselves scarce, as well."

A knot of horror began to form in Morgan's stomach, and she quickly gulped down the rest of her wine. "You know that David and I teach at the Space Academy, Sir. What do you suggest we do?"

"Take a leave of absence." The tone of his voice was grim. "You are Lenora's best friend. I can guarantee you that Wade will drag both of you - but especially you, Morgan - out of your classes for questioning. And I can't guarantee that he won't torture you or threaten you."

David swallowed in fear. "My parents live right outside of London. I can say that one of them is sick. We can take a leave of absence for however long we deem necessary."

Hawkins nodded. "Do it quickly. File the paperwork for a leave of absence first thing tomorrow morning, before either of your classes begins. Believe me, Wade is not motivated enough to show up at the Academy before your start times. By the time he arrives, you two will have already filed your leave."

Morgan inhaled. "Thank you for the heads-up, Sir," she stammered. "I can't tell you how much we appreciate it. Don't worry, I'll contact Aidan and let him know to make himself scarce. I'm sure Cliff is with him, telling him the same thing."

Hawkins tipped his head once, then stood to let himself out.

"One more thing," Morgan shot out as he placed his hand on the door knob. "Is she okay, Sir? Is Lenora okay? Do you know where she is? Because we've heard from Aidan. He hasn't seen her. None of us has any idea where she is."

The commander blinked at her. He knew that this woman, with her violet eyes and black hair infused with shades of aubergine and cerulean, was Lenora's best friend. And yet he didn't dare mention where she was. He couldn't risk those words slipping past his lips. "She's safe, Morgan. She wanted me to let you know that she's safe for now. But I can't tell you where she is. I'm sorry. It's too risky."

She nodded in understanding. "Thank you. I just wanted to make sure that she's still alive. I've been hearing rumors to the contrary."

He tipped his head once in acknowledgment. "Please meet me in the hangar at noon tomorrow. Send the word to your entire 'family' as well, I want you all there. And remember, file your leave of absence first thing tomorrow morning." With one more glance, he stepped through the door and closed it behind him, effectively disappearing into the night.

And Morgan, devastated, sobbed into her husband's chest.

* * *

After Lance, Pidge, and Hunk signed the contracts and filed the paperwork to begin their new teaching jobs at the Academy, Wade eased up on the police presence outside of their rooms. It was then that Lance, with an ice pack pressed against his still-swollen and now-bruised face, knocked on Allura's door.

When she answered, he could tell she'd been crying. Her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, mirroring the way his face looked. They exchanged no words as she let him into the room.

There was only one bed in the room - _Of __course__ the princess gets the room with the best mattress _- and he sat on it, staring at her. She leaned against the desk in the room and stared back. Finally, in a broken voice, she cracked, "He's gone."

"Not for good, Allura. Not for good." He removed the ice pack from his face and set it down on the nightstand next to the bed. "Allura, Keith wanted me to tell you that he's sorry for this. He didn't want to leave us, and he especially didn't want to leave you. He wanted me to tell you that he did all of this for you."

"But he still left me, Lance!" she wailed. "He left me, he left you, he left Pidge and Hunk, he left Arus! He left _Voltron_!"

"No." Lance's voice was firm. "He didn't leave any of us, Allura, and he didn't leave Voltron. He thought about it all day yesterday. He had everything planned out. He said he had a bad feeling that Wade was going to do something terrible with the lions, for some reason Black in particular, and he must have known that that jerk wanted to disband Voltron. He said that he had to do it on his own, because at least on his own, Wade would only put the blame on him. If we all went, then Wade and the rest of the Garrison - and possibly the Alliance - would put the blame not only on us, but on your planet. That would mean Arus would be kicked out of the Alliance, and without Voltron or any allied help, that would leave your planet completely defenseless and vulnerable to any attacks."

Allura's face crumpled, and her emerald eyes filled with tears. She knew why he left. She knew he had done it for her. _He must love me at least a little bit to do all of this for my planet._ She knew it, but it didn't make her feel any better.

She laid down in the bed next to Lance and curled up against him, sobbing. There were no words - they didn't need any. As he cuddled with her, he figured that this was how Jeff must have felt about Morgan. It was love, yes, but not in the romantic sense. It was like love for a sister. A protective, sheltering, mother-fighting-for-her-young love. Lance _did _love Allura, how could anyone not? But this love broke his heart.

Once she had finally cried herself to sleep, Lance tucked her under the covers and kissed the top of her head. Before making his exit, he looked her over, willing his strength towards her. He would not abandon her for good, especially not with Keith gone. He promised himself that he'd make regular trips to see her. To check up on her. To get drunk with her.

And, of course, to visit Red.

He stepped out of the room and gently closed the door behind him. As he turned towards his room, he noted the broken shell of a man seated on the floor, slumped against his door, tears of despair in his slate-blue eyes.

"Viking."

* * *

Once he returned to the triplex from the Rackens household, Jon opened the bottle of Hess cabernet and poured the wine into two glasses. "So," he began cryptically, handing one glass to her, "tell me about this boyfriend of yours." He said the word _boyfriend _like it left a bad taste in his mouth.

She sighed as she accepted the glass. "Who, Aidan? Why do you want to know?"

"I want to know what I'm up against."

"Oh, good Lord..." Her voice trailed off, and she took a sip of her favorite wine. "Hawkins, I'm not even sure how serious of a boyfriend he is. He's an old classmate of mine who picked me up from the hospital on the night my mother died, and we spend the weekends together. We've been seeing each other, yes, but I don't know where our relationship is going." She looked uncomfortable. "I love him, but I'm not _in _love with him. And I don't think he's in love with me, either. I mean, he's never even told me that he loves me."

"I see." Jon swirled the red wine around in his glass. "Lenora, if you were _my _girlfriend, I would tell you that I loved you every single day. Many times, if needed."

She gasped. She wasn't sure how to answer that. "I think I need more wine, Hawkins."

"Of course." He topped off her glass, looking at her as though he was studying her. "So you're telling me that you wouldn't be devastated if you two broke up. That is, if the term applies to your relationship, of course."

She swallowed. She didn't know how to respond to _that_, either.

"Tell me, Lenora, is Aidan Dalloway the love of your life?"

She inhaled. She hadn't been ready for this type of inquisition, and yet...the commander was different. She felt safe with him; safe and comfortable and protected. She'd never felt like that with Aidan, not even when he fell asleep with his arms around her. She knew she could be nothing but honest with him.

"No, he's not," she answered finally, thinking of Sven. Sven was the love of her life, she was sure of it. "Does that make you happy? He's not. He deserves better than me. He deserves a woman who knows that he's the love of her life." She finished off her wine in one large gulp. "Does that make you feel better?"

"Actually, it does. I was going to tell you that if he's _not _the love of your life, you should get rid of him." Calmly, he sipped his wine. "Tomorrow, I'm bringing you to Boston to hide you away from Wade. It will be so much easier to hide you out if you don't have any romantic ties."

"So that's the _real _reason you want me to be single, Hawkins?"

He smirked at her. "More or less."

"Well then. I'm going to bed." She rose from the sofa and brought her wineglass to the kitchen, rinsing it out in the sink. As she headed upstairs to the guest room, Jon grabbed her arm.

"I don't want you alone tonight," he told her. "I don't want you out of my sight for even a second. Wade wants you, and I'm not about to let him have you."

"Dude, you are _so _not following me into the bathroom."

He sighed impatiently. Why did she have to joke about this? The Sky Marshal wanted her dead, or at the very least, thrown into the Void. He'd personally asked Jon to seek her out and bring her to him. Little did he know, the former commander of the Explorer was mad about Lenora. "I won't. I'll give you privacy there. Otherwise, you're staying with me tonight. Master bedroom."

"Geez."

"Third floor, young lady. _Now."_

"Yessir."

He followed her up the two flights of stairs to the master bedroom. He hoped that she wouldn't be turned off; he hadn't redone it since his uncle's passing. It was a masterpiece of every shade of beige available, from the deepest taupes to the palest creams. Tasteful, but boring. One would have thought that a man as eccentric as his uncle would have had a louder, more offensive bedroom.

She flopped down onto the king-sized bed. "Are you gonna sleep with me tonight?"

Jon felt himself turning several shades of red. "Excuse me?"

She tossed a pillow at him. "Not like _that_, Hawkins. I meant next to me in bed."

"Oh." He looked simultaneously relieved _and _disappointed. "I think you forgot something about me, Lenora. I don't sleep."

She smirked at him. "Oh, if I remember correctly, Commander, you sleep if I'm in bed next to you."

* * *

Lance had never been as eloquent as his old friend Cliff. The great Clifford Jack had talked many a person down from the proverbial ledge. He always knew the right thing to say and the right time to say it.

He was no Clifford Jack.

It had been tough enough to comfort Allura. It was obvious to him - and to Pidge and Hunk, and to Coran and Nanny, and to practically everyone in the entire universe - that Keith and Allura were crazy about each other. How _they _didn't know that, he couldn't figure out. But the fact remained that the man Allura was in love with had left without saying good-bye, none of them knew when they would ever see him again, and the princess was utterly devastated.

But this? Trying to comfort Sven would require an entire liter-sized bottle of Ciroc. One that he didn't have.

"You have no idea how many people I spoke with on the Island," the Norwegian muttered, despondent. "I can't tell you how many people told me she was wanted by Wade, or that she was on the run. I can't tell you how many people thought she might be captured or dead already."

"Who?" Lance sat down on one bed across from his old roommate. "You're going way too fast for me. I feel like I walked in halfway through the movie."

_"Min elskede."_

Lance didn't speak Norwegian, but he recognized a few words from the five years he and Sven roomed together at the Academy. He recognized _ja _as "yes" and _slutten _as "fine," and of course he recognized a whole host of curse words that he never shied away from using himself. But whenever Sven mentioned his _elskede_, there was only one woman he was referring to, and his friend's answer shattered Lance's entire being.

"My Sis?"

Sven nodded miserably before breaking into sobs.

For this, Lance had no words of comfort. He didn't even think Cliff would have words to soothe his oldest friend. He was broken himself; the woman he often regarded as his sister was gone. "You mean Wade might've already murdered my Sis?"

The Norwegian somehow managed another nod.

Lance was a hard man in a lot of ways, but he was a big softie when it came to certain things. Kittens. Young kids. His Sis. The thought that Lenora was dead - it was too profound and devastating to think about. Without realizing it, he found that the tears were dripping out of his own eyes, and he made no move to wipe them away. In that small room, he and Sven grieved together, commiserating the loss of a woman they both loved.

* * *

Jon found it difficult to sleep with her in his arms. Not that it wasn't comfortable; he was sure he'd never met a woman whose body curved into his as perfectly as hers did. It was like she had been custom-made for him. No, he couldn't sleep because he didn't want to miss a moment. He had no idea when - or _if _- a night like this would ever happen again.

Sometime in the middle of the night, she shifted and turned over. Her eyes were still closed, and he knew she was merely repositioning herself in her sleep. As she faced in his direction, she snuggled against him, wrapping her top arm over his waist as if to claim him. As if she _owned _him.

She did. She _did _own him. He knew he would never feel this way for another woman. Lenora Stensson owned him. She just didn't know it.

* * *

When Wade finally made it to the Garrison HQ in the morning, his secretary greeted him with a massive pile of paperwork. "Sky Marshal," she offered with a mug of coffee, "we have a small problem at the Academy."

"Oh?" He accepted the mug and blew on the coffee before taking a sip.

She handed him the paperwork. "Two of your instructors have filed for a leave of absence for an undetermined amount of time, citing a family illness."

"Well. That's certainly inconvenient." He glanced over the paperwork. "I don't have time to read this now. Sum it up for me in as few words as possible. I've got other things to do."

"It's David Rackens, who teaches Artillery and Gunning in all levels of DFNS courses. And his wife, Morgan Rackens, who teaches NAV501, 502, and 503."

At the mention of Lenora's best friend, Wade raised his eyebrow suspiciously but said nothing. It seemed too much of a coincidence that this woman in particular and her husband would just happen to have a family member fall ill now. "Very well. I'll look over the paperwork later. See who you can hire temporarily to fill their positions."

"Yes, Sir."

Once the secretary left, Wade locked himself in his office. He was enjoying this. The power he had gained was almost perverse, and he was not ashamed to admit that he was enjoying his new position.

It was only a matter of time before the entire Alliance was putty in his hands. He would be unstoppable. Not even Voltron could touch him.

With a grin on his lips, he remembered that he had purposely grounded Voltron. Both Voltrons, actually. And he had hidden away Black Lion to ensure that Lion Voltron never bothered him again.

He was going to have a good career. He had just made sure of it.

* * *

They were all gathered in the hangar. They message from Commander Hawkins asking them to assemble had moved quickly. Morgan. David. Ginger. Cinda. Lisa. Jeff. Cliff. Aidan. Kelly. It had been a long, trying few days since the victory celebration fiasco, and they all looked a little older and a little more world-weary.

There were no jets or cruisers in the hangar, and the Explorer certainly wasn't grounded there anymore. Instead, there was a single ground transportation vehicle. Commander Hawkins stood by it, almost as though he was guarding it with his life. He nodded at each of them in greeting as they arrived.

"Thank you for coming," he greeted them once they had assembled. "I wanted you all here to say good-bye."

"What?" Jeff asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "Where are you going, Commander? Are you coming back?"

Hawkins nodded solemnly. "I'm going to Boston for a few days, Jeff. In case you didn't know, my uncle acquired a two-bedroom condo in Boston and a three-bedroom condo in Las Vegas before he died, and I have yet to see either one of them. I need to take inventory of what needs to be done. I'm starting in Boston." He looked wearily over towards the vehicle. "That's all that Wade knows, anyway. What I'm _really _doing is hiding out your friend to keep her safe. She wanted you all here to say good-bye."

As if on cue, the rear door of the vehicle opened, and Lenora slid out. She looked over her friends, one at a time, and her chocolate gaze finally settled on Aidan. She knew what she had to do, and she felt terrible about it.

"Oh my God, Len!" he shrieked, racing over to her and throwing his arms around her. He took her face in his hands. "You have no idea how worried I've been, how terrified I've been...gods, I'm just glad you're okay."

"I know, and I'm sorry," she whispered miserably. "Aidan, I am so, _so _sorry. I have to go."

"I'll go with you."

"You can't. I have to do this on my own." She looked like she wanted the ground to open up and swallow her. "I'm so sorry it has to end this way, I really think we would've made it."

His mouth gaped open. He wanted to shake her. She couldn't be breaking up with him, she just couldn't be. "Babe, are you saying...I mean...are we...are we _done_?"

Her eyes shining, she gave him a quick nod.

Aidan dropped to his knees, feeling like the breath had been knocked out of him. He grew vaguely aware of Cliff at his side, placing a hand on his shoulder. He was also dimly aware of the commander's steely, disapproving gaze on him. Why did Hawkins look disgusted by him? He swore that someday he would pummel the man into the ground for this. This was all his fault.

"Wifey," Morgan murmured, stepping forward to embrace her oldest friend, "I'm going to miss you. Be safe."

"I know, Wifey." Lenora rested her chin on Morgan's shoulder. "I love you. I can't tell you how much I'm going to miss you."

Morgan exhaled. "I know."

David scooped them both up in his arms, planting a hard kiss on Lenora's temple. "My sister," he murmured, closing his grey eyes, "wherever you go, wherever you end up, may you be safe. Seven hells, I hope you stay safe."

"My brother." David wasn't Lance - Lance was her Bro - but he was the closest thing to a brother-in-law that she would ever have. "I'll miss you, too. I promise I'll do my best to stay safe and avoid Wade."

As Lenora hugged the rest of her family good-bye, Aidan sat on his heels and watched intently. He hated Wade. He hated the fact that the one decent relationship he'd had since Shaye - and the _only _girl he ever saw himself marrying - had just left him because she had to hide out from that jerk who was now in charge of Galaxy Garrison.

He swore he'd get back at him someday.

Once Lenora had hugged her friends good-bye, she slid back into the vehicle, and Hawkins slid in next, slamming the door shut behind him. As they drove away, Aidan watched Morgan fall to her knees, sobbing. He wanted to go over and comfort her, but at the moment, he had nothing to offer.

"Cliff," he heard a soothing female voice inquire, "will he be okay?"

"Ask him yourself," Cliff answered.

Lisa gently sank down to the floor next to him. "Aidan," she said calmly, wrapping him up in her arms, "I'm here. If you ever want to talk, I'm here. You can talk to me."

"Thanks, Lis," he grumbled in reply.

Aidan didn't know how long he stayed in the hangar. He only knew that, when he finally picked himself up off the floor to leave, he and Cliff were the only two left.

* * *

Sky Marshal Wade looked almost deliriously happy for Princess Allura to return to her home planet. He stood by himself as he watched her say good-bye to Pidge and Hunk. Lance and Sven would escort her back to Arus. From there, Lance would return to Earth, and Sven would return to Pollux.

"I will miss you both," she whispered tearfully to both of them as she hugged them good-bye. "Remember, this isn't the end. This is just the beginning of the next chapter. I swear to it."

Pidge wrapped his arms tightly around his friend and wiped a tear out of his own eyes. "I'll miss you too, Princess," he replied, choking back sobs. Hunk never felt the need to stifle his emotions; he wept freely as he hugged and kissed the princess good-bye.

Lance and Sven were also miserable, but for different reasons. They hadn't told their friends about Lenora, and Lance was sure that if Sven even mentioned her name, he would die right there on the spot. Lance told himself that he would inform them of her status - or whatever it was - when he returned from Arus.

He would have to return to Earth. He had given Commander Hawkins his word, and besides, he'd signed a contract.

"I will escort you both back to Arus, and then I will return to Pollux," Sven informed Allura in a strained voice. "I do not know what your cousins have in store for me, but I cannot stay on Earth."

"It's too bad you won't stay on Earth," Wade chimed in. "My Advanced Navigation instructor just filed for a leave of absence this morning. Length of time undetermined. You'd be a perfect substitute, Sven _Holgersson_."

It was obvious to all of them that Wade knew exactly who Sven was.

"And with that, I think it's time to be going," Allura mentioned. She looked over at where the lions had been hitched. How humiliating for the four lions to be dragged back to Arus like freight, instead of flown like the mighty vehicles they were. It was devastating, but she had to keep her cool. If not for herself, then for Keith.

As Lance and Sven both escorted Allura to the borrowed Garrison stellar ship, laden with the lions and the Polluxian cruiser, they didn't notice the look on Wade's face. He knew. He knew _everything_.

Wade wouldn't stop until he controlled the whole of the Galaxy Alliance.

* * *

Boston was a great city. But Boston was not New York City.

It had been a long drive. Lenora had wept shamelessly into Jon's shoulder for the first half of the trip. It was only during the second half that she grew excited about living a new life on her own, a life that promised freedom from Wade's overbearing search for her.

The condo was nicer than Jon expected. It was located within a few blocks' walking distance of the Boston Common, and it had already been furnished. It was in a newer building - he guessed that his uncle had purchased the condo while the building was still under construction - and it had a glorious view of the Boston skyline. Lenora had already settled into the smaller bedroom and unpacked what few items she'd brought with her.

Jon had taken her out shopping for clothes, toiletries, and other necessities, then for dinner at a pricey steakhouse located on Boylston Street afterwards. He liked Boston. It didn't feel like home, of course, but it was a great city to visit. He vowed that once all of this nonsense with Wade was behind them, he would go more often.

It was late, but Jon rarely slept. He had settled himself onto the bed in the larger bedroom, staring at the viewing screen. He found it difficult to pay attention; his mind wandered. Boston was too close, and it was only a matter of time before Wade and his minions scouted out Lenora's location. He couldn't let that happen. His uncle had purchased a pied-a-terre in Paris a long time ago, and that was where he would hide her out next.

His mind raced with a checklist of things he still had to do. He had to set up a bank account for himself and designate her as a custodian so she could withdraw as well. He would provide her with money, of course, more like an extravagant allowance than anything else. He would give her anything she needed, anything she asked for. All he wanted was to protect her and take care of her.

He was in love with her, and he knew it.

_That Dalloway was a blasted fool, letting her get away. He obviously didn't love her enough if he just let her go._

"Hawkins? Are you still awake?"

He turned his head towards the door. She stood there in the hallway, dressed in her pajamas, with a concerned expression on her face. "Of course," he replied, motioning for her to join him on the bed. "You know I don't sleep, Lenora."

"Ha." She climbed atop the mattress and settled next to him. "I can't thank you enough for this, Hawkins. I mean, this is unbelievable. I've never been to Boston before, and now I get to live here. That's pretty...well, I guess the natives would call it _wicked, _no?"

"They would indeed." He was worried about how easy this was becoming. Having Lenora in bed with him was almost _too _comfortable. He loved her, of course, and he didn't mind that she was in bed with him, but he didn't want to scare her away. He didn't want her to think they were going too fast or too far, or worse, that he was more like a father figure and protector than a lover.

He wanted her to love him.

"Mmm...I like sharing a bed with you, Hawkins. You make me feel safe, and I haven't felt safe in a long time." She nestled onto her shoulder underneath the comforter and rested her head on the pillow. To her, he was almost Sven. They looked similar, with the dark hair and muscular builds. The only differences were the way they smelled and the sound of their voices. But still, the commander was almost Sven. _Almost_.

"What would you like to do tomorrow, Lenora?" he asked.

She yawned. "Whatever you wanna do is okay by me, Hawkins. I'll make us some breakfast, and then we'll get going. We'll figure it out. We always do." She made herself comfortable next to him, and thought about how secure she felt before drifting off to sleep. She had never felt this way when falling asleep next to Aidan. Only with Sven. And now with Jon.

He smiled as her cute little snores began. He hesitated for only a moment before leaning over and planting a kiss on top of her head. As he shut off the viewing screen, he murmured to her sleeping form, "I feel like you were made especially for me, Lenora." Then he laid down in bed next to her and found himself falling asleep.

* * *

Allura stood on the balcony for a long time.

Lance had left for Earth, and Sven had returned to Pollux. The four lions were resting in their appropriate lairs, and there was nothing left for the princess to do except pray. She had to pray for her teammates to overcome Wade and for Keith to be successful in recovering Black Lion.

And for Keith to return to her.

She had no idea how long she'd been out there when Coran finally came to fetch her. He looked older and wearier than he had before the team left for Earth. "Allura," he began quietly, "I haven't brought this up to you yet, but there is something you need to know. Something that came to our attention while you were away from Arus."

"Oh?" Her eyes hardly left the horizon.

"Your brother Allistaire..."

She inhaled sharply. They hadn't spoken of her older brother in years; it was too sad to bring up the name and memory of the slain prince. Ten years her senior, he fought valiantly against the forces of Doom when Zarkon first attacked. And he had been one of the first to fall.

"What about him?"

Coran cleared his throat. "Allura, I know this is going to come as a shock to you, but we received a visitor today. Apparently, Allistaire had fathered a child out of wedlock before he met his demise on the battlefield."

This was too much. Allura swallowed and gripped the railing. "Where is the child now?"

"She is with Nanny."

"It's a _she_?" Her eyes filled with tears, but at least this time they were happy tears. "You're saying that I'm an aunt? That I have a niece?"

He smiled. At least there was so good news mixed in with all of the sorrow and horror. "I am indeed, Princess. Her name is Larmina, and she is the crown lady of Arus." He paused. "One could argue that she is the rightful heir to the throne before you, since Allistaire was next in line after Alfor, and his heirs would follow. However, since he never married Larmina's mother, she is not considered of the royal bloodline."

"Nonsense. _I _consider her part of the royal bloodline." Allura's voice was firm. "Right now, Coran, this is what I need. I needed this child to come into my life. I need to focus on something other than Voltron and Keith. Otherwise, I will drive myself insane." She wiped the tears out of her eyes and shot her royal advisor a dazzling smile. "And I cannot do that. I am the crown princess of Arus, and I will survive. If nothing else, Coran, I have proven that I can and I _will _survive."

His heart swelling with pride, Coran gathered his Allura in his arms for a hug. As he escorted her to Nanny's chambers to visit her niece for the first time, he was sure that both Alfor and Allistaire were smiling upon them.

* * *

It was dark on Pollux when Sven landed the cruiser in the hangar. He was a broken man, and he had no idea what he was going to do with his life. He had built all of his plans for the future around his _elskede. _He was so sure that his life would include a marriage to her and children with her, a home in New York and a job with the Garrison.

This was not how everything was supposed to turn out.

He wiped the tears out of his eyes as he climbed out of the cruiser. He could not seem to stop crying. Mourning Lenora's disappearance - or, according to some, death - would be the norm from now on. Her platinum wedding band hung heavily from the chain around his neck.

"Sven? Are you back so soon?"

Romelle. He'd almost forgotten about her.

The princess had been waiting for him. How long she'd been there, he didn't know. He only knew that she was like a beautiful golden vision in the darkness that made up his life. She was not Lenora. She was not even someone remotely like Lenora. But perhaps that was all right.

If he couldn't have Lenora, he would have the next best thing.

"Yes, Romelle," he answered, his accented voice thick with sadness. He held his arms out to her, and she rushed towards him. She wrapped her arms around his waist, then looked up at him.

"We heard. I think the entire universe now knows about Voltron's demise. I am so glad that Zarkon and Lotor are dead, and Doom is defeated. Otherwise, who knows what advantage they would take of this situation."

She was right, and he knew it. He nodded his head in reply, drawing her further into his embrace and allowing himself to find comfort in her softness and warmth. No, she was not Lenora and she never would be.

But she could come close.

Backing out of his embrace, she smiled shyly, then grabbed one of his hands. "Come with me, Sven. It's late, and I'd like to go to bed." She shrugged her shoulders. "I'd feel better if you were in bed next to me."

He knew the Polluxians wouldn't like it - that no matter how decorated he was, he was still a mere pilot in bed with their princess - but at the moment, he didn't much care. He was a man who had just lost the love of his life. If that didn't entitle him to sleep next to the only other woman who'd ever love him, then he didn't know what did. Sven allowed Romelle to lead him back to her chambers, his conscience heavy with grief for his lost Lenora.

* * *

The night had been a long one, but the sun was finally beginning to rise.

Keith had pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up to hide his face. Not that anyone would have recognized him, of course - he'd taken more than the usual necessary precautions to ensure that no one recognized him as he smuggled himself off the planet - but it never hurt to be too careful.

This situation was a nightmare. It was not what he wanted to do after defeating the forces of Doom. He'd expected to celebrate on Earth with the Garrison and his teammates, profess his love to Allura, and hopefully live out happier days on Arus with her. He had _not _expected to be doing what he was currently doing, which was going rogue and on the lam to search for Black Lion.

Wade had hidden Black out somewhere. Now it was his job to find out where. He needed to bring Black home, return Voltron to glory, and restore the Garrison's good name. Wade had to go.

All in good time.

The transport ship was full of aliens and rogue travelers like himself. He had no idea where he was headed, but he knew that Black could be anywhere in the galaxy, and wherever he was going was as good a place as any to start.

He watched Earth turn smaller and smaller in the distance. As the planet shrunk, he thought about Allura. Her beautiful smiling face, her pink lips, her emerald eyes, her long blond hair. His princess. He had lost her. But only for now. Not forever.

He would never lose her forever. He would never allow that to happen.

Once he was sure there was no one who would recognize him - and Earth was nothing more than a microscopic speck in the distance - Keith finally lowered his hood. His scalp felt cold, and he lifted his hand to the back of his head. His fingertips grazed bare skin. He had shaved off all of his hair in an effort to flee Earth unnoticed. No one recognized the Voltron captain without his infamous mullet.

Shock, sadness, and disbelief had descended upon his psyche, and he wasn't sure if those feelings would lift any time soon. But he was sure that they would lift eventually. Wade couldn't keep Black from him forever. He would find Black Lion and return to Allura, victorious and ready to begin a better chapter in his life.

Or he would die trying.

* * *

_**THE END**_


End file.
